Follow up:
TRON: LEGACY
WALT DISNEY PICTURES
Rating: PG
RUNTIME: 125 minutes
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett and Michael Sheen
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Producers: Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Steven Lisberger
Studio Synopsis:
“TRON: Legacy” is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-winner Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn’s Arcade—a signal that could only come from his father—he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe—a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with never-before-imagined vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape. Presented in Disney Digital 3D™ and scored by Grammy® Award-winning electronic music duo Daft Punk, “TRON: Legacy” hits U.S. theaters on Dec. 17, 2010, in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D.
J.P.’s Take [SOME SPOILERS AHEAD]:
For its time, “Tron” was the “Matrix,” before the concept of that movie was even thought of. Its visuals were revolutionary (by 1982 standards of course) and its storyline was brimming with fresh ideas. I’m showing my age a bit here, but to make my point, I was 5 years old when this movie was released. And not knowing anything about movie making then, I knew this was a really cool movie.
The older I became the more aware I became of the story behind “Tron”; therefore, making it far more fascinating to watch. What intrigued me was the storyline itself — pertaining to the exploration of how technology can literally change the world. Now, here we are 28 years later and such technology has become reality with the invention of the internet, which opens up worlds of info. Through gaming, you can design your own virtual universe, not to mention where robotics is heading. All of these elements are evident in the applications of such sophisticated electronics in medicine, business and everyday activities as well.
Today, the 1982 Disney film is still hailed as the godfather of intelligent Sci-Fi film making. So how will “Tron: Legacy” stack up against the parent movie?
In my honest opinion at first glimpse, the whole movie feels like one long trailer. As far as the story is concerned, I felt Sam Flynn’s (Garrett Hedlund) back story was a little vague at best. The omission of just a few details about him grown up didn’t allow for the first act to develop legs. We see brief flashbacks of Sam with his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), which makes some kind of attempt to explain his dad’s disappearance. However, I felt they could have drawn this storyline out a bit further to create an emotional anchor. I wanted to see more interaction between the two of them. When Sam does find his father, his reactions were not authentic. I would think he would be more distraught after all those years. Unfortunately, this interaction did not happen. Instead “Tron: Legacy” hits ground running straight into the digital world.
Once Sam learns about the new CEO’s plans for Encom – the company that his dad was once the CEO of, we are thrusted into the search for his father, after receiving a mysterious page. Consider the plot to be very paint by numbers where Sam, the good guy, must face an evil clone of Kevin Flynn named Clu, who’s bent on controlling both the digital world and the real. To make a long story short, he has to fight this evil to save his father ~ and his sidekick Quorra (Olivia Wilde) ~ and make it out the grid alive.
Although it’s well executed, the story plays out fairly typical of what you’d find in many sci-fi/action flicks. This brings me back to the original film, whose story I felt was a little more involved. There were multiple angles being played out in the original “Tron”: Flynn was fighting two battles, one in the real world where he was trying to win back the right to the software he created; teaming up with partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) to bring down the culprit who stole his idea; and the other battle was fought in the digital world, where Flynn gets trapped in cyber space. While he was hacking into the system to find out why his project was hijacked in the first place, he was forced to confront the evil MCP (Master Control Program) and make it out alive. With all of these elements in the original film, I consider “Legacy” to be the diluted version.
“Sidewalks Entertainment’s” executive producer Richard R. Lee, who I saw the film with, found fault with some of the plot points involving the characters themselves. For instance, how is it that all of a sudden both Kevin and Sam have such extraordinary powers and abilities within this virtual world. I basically chalk it up to this reasoning, when you’re the creator of a virtual utopia, you can program it to do what ever you wish. It’s like playing God. Being the creator, Kevin Flynn can control anything at any time. Plus, the actual reason why is stated in the movie, only very briefly in utterance (I won’t spoil it for anyone). As for Sam, I sum up the fact that his real world experiences, with being the end user of his father’s creations aided him in displaying his abilities with no problem. But I understand Richard’s query, as he begs the question of where is the set up for all of this on their behalf.
There characters were interesting to watch, with Bridges reprising his role as Flynn, but in a refreshing way. He seems like a cross between Obi Wan Kenobi and “The Dude,” a character he made famous in “The Big Lebowski.” While Flynn philosophizes about how the grids inner workings, he manages to inject some much needed comedy with the line, “Man you’re really messing with my Zen.” This is of course very befitting of him. I felt Hedlund played Sam with enough spunk. He smirks in the right way, and is a slightly braggart, but he is able to back up his boasting when it came to the battles in the arena. Olivia Wilde, of course, brings eye candy, but she’s not just that; she’s able to win viewers with her peppy yet warrior-like like temperament. I like the way she jumps in at a moment’s notice to sacrifice herself to save Sam and his father.
Despite some minor complaints on my part about a weak back story and Richards’s query of character development, “Legacy” is no less cool to watch. I loved the ultra cool neon laced sets and environments, along with characters adorned in skin tight suits — complete with brightly, colorfully lit accents. The vehicles are updated, with some very awesome features. I loved the scenes during the disc battles, with some great martial arts action. The 3D effect was very subtle, though very easy on the eyes, yet exciting to watch. One more thing that really stoked my attention was the soundtrack produced by one of my favorite electronic duos, the French twosome Daft Punk, who is known for their dance oriented albums. Daft Punk pumped out an enthralling orchestrated sound tapestry and they even make a cameo appearance as the DJ’s in a club scene.
At the end I could not deny that “Tron: Legacy” is a worthy follow up and, like the precursor, is just as exciting to watch. I felt the plot was executed well enough for the audience to follow, though I wanted more from the story as a whole. Visually the effects were surreal as with the first one.
I’m dropping its grade down to a B- for the reasons I mentioned above; something I think they’ll explain in detail in a possible third installment. I’m assuming “Tron’s” legacy won’t be totally tarnished by this up to date sequel.