movie review
Tron: Legacy
Sci-fi sequel is high on special fx, low on story
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It’s the hectic holiday season, so I’ll forgive myself for coming home from ‘Tron: Legacy’ and thinking, hmmm, that really didn’t seem too bad for a PG-13 movie. Well, duh, Jane. It’s not PG-13. It’s PG, which makes it even better, in my mind, because then you don’t have to cringe when your tween wants to go see it.
I wanted to see the original 1982 ‘Tron’ again before seeing this movie, but didn’t get a chance (my mom has it – yeah, she’s a ‘Tron’ fan – so I’ll borrow it from her). But the cool thing about these types of movies is there’s always something new to riff on in the sequels. Who knows what groovy cyber-stuff will be featured in ‘Tron: 2050’?
The story begins with a flashback to 1989 as Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) – now the CEO of ENCOM – tells his son Sam about the Grid and how he, Tron and Clu have discovered something totally amazing. But the amazing thing will have to wait for another day. Unfortunately, Kevin goes missing, and Sam grows up not knowing about the amazing thing.
Cut to the present day with now 27-year-old Sam (Garrett Hedlund) breaking into the ENCOM building, stealing the new software, and releasing it online. Keep in mind that Sam is actually the head of the company, but has avoided taking on that particular role. Just not a corporate guy.
But when his father’s friend and business partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner, who played the part in the original ‘Tron’) gets a page from Kevin’s old office in the arcade, Sam checks it out and discovers a secret workshop, where he activates a digitizing ray that transports him into “the grid” and smack into a game of life and death.
And so begins Sam’s journey to find his dad and get both of them the heck out of there, with help from the loyal Quorra (Olivia Wilde) and obstacles from the nefarious Clu (Jeff Bridges), Zuse (Michael Sheen) and others.
But the story is really secondary to all the fun visuals and cyber-stuff. There are deadly Frisbee games, identity discs that contain all your experiences and memories, “light” motorcycle-jets that create themselves as you hop on them (how cool is that?), and a rapidly-closing portal back to the real world.
Unfortunately, ‘Tron: Legacy’ falters on several levels, including a clichéd father-son storyline, one-dimensional characters (including, sadly, Garrett Hedlund), uninspired dialogue (well, I DID like the ‘Empire Strikes Back’-inspired “I’m not your father, Sam”), and darkly-lit 3D photography.
In fact, at the beginning of the movie, a note onscreen indicates that some parts of the movie were shot in 2D, but that we’re supposed to leave our 3D glasses on for the entire movie. Being the rebel I am, I took mine off every time I thought the scenes were in 2D. I know that’s not what the filmmakers wanted me to do, which made it even more fun.
For a movie that’s been hyped up one side of Comic-Con and down the other, ‘Tron: Legacy’ isn’t the giant blockbuster I hoped it would be. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t see it, because the visuals really are pretty cool. Plus, it’s a fairly straightforward PG rating, which means it’s ok for kids 10 and older.
Comments on Tron: Legacy
While last year, Avatar (of 20th Century Fox) was famous during the end of the year, now it’s turn for Disney. Tron can be considered great end of the year film.
Posted by Life Quotes on Jan 02, 2011
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