Tron (2010) Reviews

• Touching Spectacle

  garlonuss2010-12-20

  It's not highly likely to win many new converts, but for those who already like the original and want to see more of that world, it more than satisfies. The visuals are a wonderful evolution from Tron and the story of a father and son who have to make up for lost time is very touching. The CGI face they developed for Jeff Bridges is not perfect, but it works very well with just a few exceptions and I feel, for my own tastes, that they have actually bridged the uncanny valley with this one. Still a bit of work to get it perfect, but this one works as it is. Oh, and the score by Daft Punk is beautiful. The first thing my brother and I did after leaving the theater was buy the sound track on the way home. It's very suggestive of the original but with plenty of today's newer sensibilities mixed in.

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• I've been waiting 28 years for that....

  DigitalWitch2010-12-17

  And it was worth it. I was 9 years old when I saw TRON in a dingy cinema in Fareham, I was hooked then, and I always dreamed they would make a sequel. I was seriously worried though, I mean, Escape from New York was another of my favourite movies and I got all excited about the sequel to that... and left the cinema mortified... Not this time. This was like an old friend coming home. There are a lot of comments about this movie having a poor story, personally, I disagree. It was a father and son story, any more on top of the other sub plots going on would have been too much. It's a hell of an experience for the sences... when those Recognizers flew overhead the cinema shook... immersive, entertaining... everything a good movie should be. Roll on Number 3.

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• A spectacular visual experience to be taken with a pinch of salt!

  alwaysbwithu2010-12-05

  Kevin Flynn (Bridges) is the CEO of Encom and the world's best video game developer. One night he simply vanishes without a trace and leaves his company in chaos and his young son. Fast-forward 20 years, Sam Flynn (Hedlund) is a rebellious 27 year old and a thorn in the side of Richard Mackey (Nordling), a suit trying to take over his father's company with the help of a software designer (an uncredited cameo from Cillian Murphy). Though Sam is the heir, he refuses to play an active role in the decision-making process. Alan Bradley (Boxleitner) meets him one night with the news that he has received a page from Kevin Flynn's arcade - a number that has been disconnected for 20 years. Thus ensues the inevitable investigation into his father's whereabouts and Sam's transportation into the world his father has created and been trapped in for decades. Where to begin? Tron: Legacy is a visual feast for your eyes and an auditory pleasure thanks to Daft Punk and Joseph Trapanese. The soundtrack feels ethereal almost and fits perfectly with this new world we have been introduced to for the first time (or the 2nd time if you've seen the 1982 original). 3D, for me, is a recent scourge that has been infecting and affecting the movie industry. Yes, maybe it is a more lucrative avenue for the movie industry after the setback of heavy piracy but enough is enough! Joseph Kosinski, however, had a vision (and an architectural degree behind him) to give us a mouth-opening, simply beautiful world with the correct blend of 2D and 3D! It is quite simply worth it just to go for the visuals. What the movie makes up for in spectacular imagery, it lacks in storyline. Maybe I should have watched the 1982 version as so many people have pointed out to me but even without it, the plot seems a little disjointed. The underlying connections to the real world are numerous such as The Holocaust, God complexes, evil doppelgangers and more. You are left with more questions than answers as it is never revealed just what it is about this world that would "change everything" in the real world. Jeff Bridges is great as both the villain and hero and his computer animated self is simply amazing although at the same time off-putting (this might be the Uncanny Valley hypothesis at work). The acting overall is not anything to write home about (no Oscar winners here) but Hedlund as Sam Flynn holds his own against a more charismatic Jeff Bridges. Quorra (Wilde) provides a potential love interest and the key to changing our world and a doe-eyed innocent view of life that is endearing. This is a movie that should be simply taken for what it is, a pandering to the original fan base whilst garnering new ones, one not to be over- analysed but simply to be marvelled at with a group of friends. The actions scenes are just jaw-dropping with light cycles (that I wish I owned!) and deadly Frisbees amongst other things. Disney took a risk to continue a series almost 3 decades later rather than going for the easy option of re-imagining it. A wise move.

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• This movie has far deeper themes than people give it credit for

  gollumsmeagolrocks2015-11-14

  The original movie was generic. While it's far from bad, it's plot was simplistic in terms of the overall focus being on the good vs evil side and less on the thematic element it established of Flynn and all users being gods. It serves as a mythology, however, to a much more insightful legend which unfolds in this movie. But the problem is, due to the somewhat simplistic nature of the predecessor, people failed to give attention to the themes of this film, preferring to focus on the generic side as that's what they'd expect from a Tron movie. But the movie doesn't stay generic, so when viewers find nothing simple to see they assume the movie is empty. It's not, they're minds are just preset to look for simple "turn off your brain and be entertained" values, which simply aren't present in this film. The whole movie, just like the original, is similar to the idea of a religious mythology. The original featured programs as disciples of the users, enslaved for their belief. But that plays a small role overall. Here, when the Grid is reprogrammed to the image of Kevin Flynn, Flynn is established to the status of "the one true god" at least of this version of the grid, and all the other users who contribute new programs are just angels. But the maker of this world is Flynn, regardless of whether or not he writes the fates of these people. So, much like the original Hebrew form of god, he is not so much a ruler who demands worship or enforce any rules but just a wise and experienced being here to help when he's needed. And it's not so much an analogy to call Flynn god as it is TRUE. He has successfully created a world, not a platform. A world that's self sustaining and requires no more intervention of the users, as displayed by the ISOs which created themselves and were programmed by no-one. And this demands many questions! If they'd been allowed to live, would the ISOs have made this world like our own in thousands of years? Does this mean that's how our own god could have created our own world and how we came to be? Questions of such layered nature can't simply be ignored as style over substance. And then there comes CLU, the best friend of Flynn who he trusted. But as god, I dare say it, may have been somewhat confused in his image he had for the world in his early form, so did Flynn suffer from this same confusion of image for his world. This causes CLU to suffer a similar fate of uncertainty, making him only able to understand that his god is incapable of creating a perfect world since he can't imagine one. Thus, taking matters into his own hands, he abandons his god and does what he sees to be right. But the problem is he expects to get a different result with the same thinking as his flawed god, the only thinking he has been exposed to, and makes even worse mistakes than his god, making Flynn see the errors of his ways. Thus, a most appropriate analogy, CLU becomes the Satan to Flynn's god. But the ultimate piece of symbolism that outmatches anything else in the movie, is the final attempt of CLU to get Flynn's disc. He realizes Flynn has tricked him, by giving the disc he sought to his son. He discovered that the son of Flynn, and thus the son of a god, has obtained the disc and power he seeks, and thus he must obtain it. There is so much symbolism that flies past viewers in what happens next. When CLU realizes he has been tricked, he raises his disc to derez Flynn and then go get the right one, but only violently places the disc beside Flynn, subtly showing in the end he still considered Flynn his friend and could not bring himself to kill him. CLU runs to obtain this disc from the obstacle stopping him from having the ultimate power, showing the rivalry between the Satan and savior of this world. Such themes like this show the filmmakers truly put a lot of thought into their creation, not a lack of it, so people need to stop discrediting them and their work.

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• Trontastic...

  Chalice_Of_Evil2010-12-15

  I have never seen the original 'Tron', nor do I really know much about it really. I've only heard the movie referenced on occasion (like that one episode of The Simpsons where Homer's trapped in the Third Dimension and he asks if anybody saw the movie 'Tron', and everyone says "No."). The previews for 'Tron: Legacy' looked visually stunning, and I'm happy to report it does not disappoint in that regard. Everything seen inside "The Grid" is a wonder to behold, a visual feast. But is this the only thing the film has going for it? Well...yes and no. As far as the characters/actors who portray them are concerned... Garrett Hedlund is good as Sam Flynn. Yes, he has to utter some clunky dialogue along the way and is a bit stiff at times, but he serves the role well enough. At times he reminded me of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (what with the pulling out of lightsabers...I mean discs, donning of cloaks, etc) - though not half as bad as him. Jeff Bridges gives a solid performance as Sam's dad, Kevin Flynn. The only thing that detracts from his acting is his digitised clone, Clu. No matter how hard they have tried to create a youthful-looking Jeff Bridges using computer magic, he still looks like a "cartoon" (as someone in the audience put it). While it's annoying, it would have at least been tolerable if it had been limited to just the scenes inside The Grid. However, the movie starts in the the real world with a "young" Kevin Flynn telling his son the story of Tron/The Grid, and you can plainly tell the drastic difference between a real and fake Jeff Bridges. It's so obvious, and very distracting. Olivia Wilde kicks butt and looks great doing it (in her skintight catsuit with neon highlights and her asymmetrical wig) as the warrior, Quorra. She seems to be having a lot more fun with this role than she does with that of Thirteen on 'House'. Quorra has a slight naivety about her in regards to some things, and displays a sense of childlike wonder on occasion (especially the end), which gives her some depth. Wilde and Hedlund share some good scenes together, and her character at least gets *some* development - which is more than I can say for the albino-like "Siren", Gem (Beau Garrett). Michael Sheen is memorable as Castor. While he does tend to "ham it up" a bit, it's nonetheless a delightful performance. Apart from the animation of Young Kevin Flynn, there are a couple of other 'minuses' of the film, like the dialogue (which is oftentimes average) and the fact that the film itself does seem to drag in spots/go on for a bit too long. However, the visuals *do* almost manage to make up for most of the film's faults (almost). The movie looks stunning - after we get past the kinda boring beginning and are transported along with Sam inside The Grid. Light Cycles, Light Runners, all mode of "Light" transportation make for thrilling action/chase sequences. Then there's the "games", that mostly seem to involve throwing discs - which resemble Xena's round killing thing - at each other, causing those who are hit to "derez" (ie. cease to exist). Another 'plus' for this film is its excellent score. It adds SO much to the movie. The film is entertaining enough, but probably not the non-stop action some people are expecting/hoping for. If you're looking to kill a couple hours watching something that's visually pleasing (but, at the same time, may give you a headache/sore eyes thanks to the 3D), then 'Tron: Legacy' is worth checking out. Fans of the original may or may not like this movie, I'm not sure, but I know that for someone like myself - who's being introduced to the world of 'Tron' for the first time - it was quite something.

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