Since my last post has garnered my more traffic than I have had in months, I decided, why not give the people what they want? Err...people if you are out there, please let me know what you want. I love to write for an audience.
Anyways, the background to this particular film is interesting. I was sort of hesitant to see it as it looked very aesthetically pleasing but I fear that that would be all that the movie would: beautiful but without substance. Anyways, one of my friends from church wanted to hang out and do lunch and a movie. I was more than willing to oblige as it had been some time since I had seen him and I was up for anything.
It should be noted at this point that I had little to no clue about what "Tron" is or was. In fact, all of my knowledge of the series came from a gaming series called "Kingdom Hearts." Which is to say, not too much at all.
So, we got to the theatre and it turns out that the movie came in 3D and 2D settings, which was fine. I'm not a fan of 3D, mostly because it feels (more often than not) gimmicky. While gimmicks can be fine, they can't be the only thing holding up a movie. I'm talking to you, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland! Ahem.
We opted for the 3D showing much to the pining cries of my wallet and the few dead presidents left inside and hopped in.
As the credits flew in a most beautiful way, I picked up a deal of the story. There was this guy named Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges) who was an amazing computer programmer who had oodles of dollars (unlike my wallet) and was the CEO of a computer company named ENCOM. And he has a son name Sam who has a wonderful relationship with his father, until Kevin flat out disappears. Yes, Kevin vanishes into thin air, leaving his young son the lion's share of the company.
Now, while Kevin's whereabouts are unknown (though he mumbled often about living in a computer and the games played therein), young Sam is left to muddle through the loss of his father and as a result turns into an angsty 27 year old young man who while intelligent is too much of a rebel to really accomplish anything in the way of college degrees or running the company his father pretty much left him.
Angsty young men are pretty much the standard bill affair for Disney protagonists for the last fifteen years (Hercules, Aladdin, Simba, etc.) and Sam Flynn is no different, though a few years older than the usual. He broods and rides his motorcycle and pulls pranks on the company he owns (pretty much) before returning to his "Fortress of Solitude"esque dwelling in a daring escape sequence (one of the better ones of the film).
It is there that Sam finds that his father in his ramblings may have not been far off in his statements of living in a computer and playing games on "The Grid." When Sam gets a tip to check out his father's arcade, he turns on an old computer and magically (as there is seriously no explanation for how this happens) is transported into the computer and onto The Grid.
Now, it appears that life in a computer is not all that it's cracked up to be. Sure, the architecture is beautiful in mostly drab greys and electric blues, but there seem to be an awful lot of people who have orange lights on them instead of blue, who decide to throw Programs (beings who live in the computer but look like human beings) onto The Grid and play various games against each other, not unlike ancient Romans, with similar consequences (de-rezzing, or deresolution, seems to be the equivalent of death in the computer universe).
Sam gets thrown right into the middle of these games and manages to survive, much to the surprise of the Program watching the games and after a few flashy action sequences, Sam's presence makes him the number one target of the dictator-esque, CLU (also played by Bridges) who seems to rule The Grid.
Long story short, Sam discovers that his father is indeed alive and well in the computer and chilling out in a hideout with a Program that he made named Quorra (Olivia Wilde). Though "hiding out" seems like it would be a better term as CLU is out to exterminate Kevin for a number of reasons, Kevin's abode is awful nice looking and sleek, almost if the entire thing had been designed by Apple.
So sum up the rest of the movie, Sam, Kevin and Quorra basically attempt to escape from The Grid and the armies of CLU preventing them from leaving. Yes, that is the plot. There is a whole lot more of detail, though the storytelling is convoluted to say the least and not especially engaged.
Though why should it be? The movie relies strongly enough on its powerful visuals and those visuals do succeed. Even if I hadn't seen the movie in 3D, I would still be raving about a few sequences- the light cycle sequence and the flying sequence near the end are of special note.
Also as a strength, the movie really delivers on the musical end of the spectrum with all of the music done by Daft Punk, who did the movie for the first film. The techno beats fit the film perfectly and make the action that much more believable and visceral.
Though with these strengths come many weaknesses. The plot, as mentioned before is poor and the characterization of the characters is disappointing, to say the least. Granted the movie mostly takes place in a computer, but must all of their performances also be robotic? I felt such low empathy for the characters in the film that I found myself indifferent to their plight and just wanted to do more of the action sequences.
The actors don't really bring much to the table here- Bridges is ok as Kevin, especially when he has that spaced out look in his eye and starts waxing philosophical about life in the computer, but not really intimidating as CLU. Garrett Hedlund is the generic angsty male hero as Sam and not really compelling. Quorra is just another pretty face and while she is a Program, she could at least attempt some emotion or make us feel for her. I mean, Wall-E was able to do that for most! Even Ah-nold in the second Terminator movie got us to feel empathetic for him by the end of T2! So, why not a Program?
Sigh. In the end, what "Tron: Legacy" does well, it does well. Even though it wasn't a great movie, it was an enjoyable experience, so I will give it that much.
Basically there are three reasons to see this film: soundtrack by Daft Punk, beautiful art/action scenes, and soundtrack by Daft Punk. If you go in wanting those three things you will be pleasantly rewarded by sparkly lights and choruses of "ooh, how pretty!" However, if you are looking for a deep movie or one with decent dialogue and characterization, I would direct you elsewhere.
7.1/10 - Alright
-Reven
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