TRON: Legacy

Posted by christopher on December 20, 2010

The first moment TRON: Legacy starts, nay, the moment I witnessed the TRONified Disney logo, goosebumps kicked in and I knew this movie would not disappoint. TRON: Legacy, as you may imagine, is a visual marvel and the perfect score by Daft Punk truly engulfs you the user into the world; into the grid.

The TRON universe is a classic man vs. machine struggle; a struggle for greatness; a tale of unintended consequences. The series has us following Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a genius who has achieved success in computer programming by created the most popular video games in the 80’s. He is of course met with challenges in the form of a conniving business partner who tries and for a while succeeds in stealing Flynn’s ideas and selling them under the ENCOM Corporation name. Through a bit of hackery, Flynn is able to oust his former partner and take control of ENCOM, building it into a behemoth software company a la Microsoft. Something which both the first and now this TRON movie seem to gloss over is that Flynn and ENCOM have invented a way to transcribe the human body and mind into a digital form within a computer, which is where much of the series takes place–somewhat of a plot hole but forgivable. And this brings us to where TRON: Legacy begins: Flynn is on the verge of a major discovery in “the grid,” an empty plane in the computer world where programs (the people within the computer), machines, and buildings can be created, building a new utopian society. Flynn’s first order of business is creating CLU, a copy of Flynn’s persona who’s focus is on creating this perfect society, to manage the build while Flynn is away in the real world. Flynn’s son, Sam, is a budding young lad who himself has heard stories of the grid from his father and is eager to see what his father has spent countless nights creating; but something goes awry when Flynn senior disappears, trapped in the grid. Sam is left with his grandparents and grows up enjoying the benefits of the wealth he inherited but is left both with the struggle of discovery what happened to his father and striving for his genius with ENCOM. Through a bit of planned luck, Sam stumbles upon his father’s old arcade with a hidden basement office where Kevin was building the grid and that sneaky machine sit which can digitize the human body and mind, and the rest is Legacy.

The story of TRON: Legacy is interesting enough though a bit derivative of others in a similar category like The Matrix. It’s fast paced with enough action and mystery to keep us the audience glued to the screen throughout, but it doesn’t get lost for the sake of action alone. But the story alone is not why we want, why we need, to see this movie: the imagination of the computer world in combination with the execution of the visual effects and score of both TRON movies are incredible and where the series truly shines. The clean stylization of the grid, the lines of bright light set on a dark plane, the deep horns, fast violins, and heavy drums suck you in and keep you riveted. While we’re on the subject, the score Daft Punk created for Legacy is simply superb. It is the essence of TRON in the form of music. I’m left wanting it as my own personal background music in my day-to-day life–just drive at night with the street and city lights and you’ll feel the power, like you’re on a grand mission, like some mystery and longing compels you and you alone; it’s an epic feeling.

The action is as expected with disc throwing, acrobatics, hand-to-hand fighting, and of course the light cycles. But where the original now fails to impress in these aspects, Legacy delivers with fast paced sequences and close up shots of the action. They’ve expanded the scope of light vehicles as well, delivering an edge-of-the-seat light jet fight sequence, which sounds cool enough to say let alone experience. I saw TRON: Legacy in 3-D, though I missed out on the IMAX experience. The 3-D doesn’t really kick in until we get into the grid, which actually helps to convey the transformation into the new world, however the 3-D tends to sink to the background and really only comes through in the movie’s action sequences. Ultimately it adds some depth to certain parts and doesn’t get in the way in others so if you’re able to cough up a few extra dollars I’d say go for it.

And finally the actors and actresses. I’m left with really only one thought in this area, which is my biggest gripe with the film, and that is the execution of the young Jeff Bridges. I’ve heard others talk about the “uncanny valley” with respect to an all digital character who closely matches that of a real human; this may or may not be the case but what I saw was a supposed person that didn’t quite emote correctly–it’s the mouth–and who’s skin was just…off. It’s really the only area of the movie that’s disengaging.

So final thoughts: grab a stick, run as fast as you can, jump in the air, and ride the light to go see this movie now.

The Verdict:

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