Story equal to effects in sci-fi sequel
Published on Tue, Apr 5, 2011 by Bob ConnallyRead More Arts & Entertainment
TRON: Legacy
(Now available, PG)
It seems hard to believe that a 1982 sci-fi cult classic that was deemed a box office failure would have ended up with a sequel in 2010. Adding to the improbability, the Disney studio trusted a first-time director (Joseph Kosinski) with the sequel and its $170 million budget. So it may come as a surprise to some that the result is an incredibly entertaining film.
In 1989, seven years after the events of "TRON," Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a single father to a young boy named Sam and the highly successful CEO of ENCOM. When Flynn mysteriously disappears, it leaves ENCOM in the hands of greedy, lazy businessmen, and his old partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) has little power to fight them.
Fast-forward to the present day, where Alan gets a page (yes, he wears a pager) from Flynn, leading Alan to convince the grown-up Sam (Garrett Hedlund) to take a look at Flynn's old arcade for answers. The setup is entertaining enough, but when Sam finds himself inside the Grid, "TRON: Legacy" becomes the movie I had hoped for.
Disc matches, light cycle races, Michael Sheen playing the love child of David Bowie and Gozer. It's all here. The story isn't as mind-blowing as the look of the film, but the movie never felt like it existed solely to be an effects demonstration. Unlike a recent 3D megahit featuring blue horse-cat people or a certain prequel trilogy, I actually cared about the characters and didn't cringe whenever someone spoke. The screenplay and performances won't win any awards, but they absolutely get the job done.
With so many movies being released in 3D now, it's nice to see a film where it isn't an afterthought dealt with in a rush during post-production. Intended to be a 3D movie all along, the sequences where it's employed are immersive and exciting to watch. Of course, unless you've invested in a 3D TV, even the 3D Blu-Ray version won't look much different at home than the less expensive DVD copy. Either way, there's plenty of excitement in the action sequences.
The only real problem I had with the film was the look of Clu, a program also played by Bridges. Flynn created Clu in his own image during the late '80s and unlike Flynn, he has not aged. There's something disconcerting about the very "Polar Express-y" look of Clu's face against everything else we see. This aside, "TRON: Legacy" is the sort of movie that shows what technology can do but remembers that the audience needs more than that. What we get is a movie that is just an incredible amount of fun. "TRON: Legacy" is a blast. 8/10.
(Now available, PG)
It seems hard to believe that a 1982 sci-fi cult classic that was deemed a box office failure would have ended up with a sequel in 2010. Adding to the improbability, the Disney studio trusted a first-time director (Joseph Kosinski) with the sequel and its $170 million budget. So it may come as a surprise to some that the result is an incredibly entertaining film.
In 1989, seven years after the events of "TRON," Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a single father to a young boy named Sam and the highly successful CEO of ENCOM. When Flynn mysteriously disappears, it leaves ENCOM in the hands of greedy, lazy businessmen, and his old partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) has little power to fight them.
Fast-forward to the present day, where Alan gets a page (yes, he wears a pager) from Flynn, leading Alan to convince the grown-up Sam (Garrett Hedlund) to take a look at Flynn's old arcade for answers. The setup is entertaining enough, but when Sam finds himself inside the Grid, "TRON: Legacy" becomes the movie I had hoped for.
Disc matches, light cycle races, Michael Sheen playing the love child of David Bowie and Gozer. It's all here. The story isn't as mind-blowing as the look of the film, but the movie never felt like it existed solely to be an effects demonstration. Unlike a recent 3D megahit featuring blue horse-cat people or a certain prequel trilogy, I actually cared about the characters and didn't cringe whenever someone spoke. The screenplay and performances won't win any awards, but they absolutely get the job done.
With so many movies being released in 3D now, it's nice to see a film where it isn't an afterthought dealt with in a rush during post-production. Intended to be a 3D movie all along, the sequences where it's employed are immersive and exciting to watch. Of course, unless you've invested in a 3D TV, even the 3D Blu-Ray version won't look much different at home than the less expensive DVD copy. Either way, there's plenty of excitement in the action sequences.
The only real problem I had with the film was the look of Clu, a program also played by Bridges. Flynn created Clu in his own image during the late '80s and unlike Flynn, he has not aged. There's something disconcerting about the very "Polar Express-y" look of Clu's face against everything else we see. This aside, "TRON: Legacy" is the sort of movie that shows what technology can do but remembers that the audience needs more than that. What we get is a movie that is just an incredible amount of fun. "TRON: Legacy" is a blast. 8/10.
