Anyway, having been irreparably harmed by The Phantom Menace, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (it’s been two years but I’m still not over it. The pain is still raw) I was excited, yet subconsciously prepared for another such childhood ruining incident. I am therefore incredibly pleased to report that Tron: Legacy was GREAT!!! It was, in the words of Kevin Flynn, "Bio Electric Jazz". It was a party in my EYES and everyone was invited!
In 1989 Kevin Flynn disappears on his way to work. Leap to the present day and his son, Sam Flynn, now the absentee CEO of ENCOM, answers a mysterious page from his father’s office. Investigating the source he finds himself beamed into ‘The Grid’ where he must try to survive and bring home his trapped Father.
I have read differing reports since this came out. Most of the negative criticism revolving around the plot (or lack thereof), but I really don’t know what people were expecting. Reading the inanities of some fool on Aint It Cool News complaining that Jeff Bridges was too Lebowski-like, or missing the point of the cameo/in joke that was Cillian Murphy/Edward Dillinger, I came to realise the review really was just a big fat waste of the internet. Some people are destined to never be happy and completely miss the point of things. Perhaps Tron: Legacy will follow the path of the much maligned, yet criminally underrated Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow. Another stunningly beautiful film that makes up for minor plot flimsiness with a wealth of style, attractiveness and downright coolness that most other films can only ever pine after like a kicked dog.
I confess though, I was seduced by the visuals. But isn’t that the POINT of Tron, to a degree? I thought the design and the effects were jaw dropping, yet I relished the little details too, like the slightly distorted computer-y vocal effects, or Clu’s sidekick who looked like a cross between Lobot and one of the baddies from The Last Starfighter.
Jeff Bridges was great as always. Kevin Flynn is an idealistic old hippy and therefore you can't fail to think of The Dude. I admit when he faced off against Clu I was half expecting him to say "Well, yeah that's just like, your opinion, man"!! The CGI generated, fresh faced Jeff Bridges also worked remarkably well as Clu. Seeing as how Clu was a computer generated character within The Grid, the slightly unnatural look to him worked nicely. Garret Hedlund was solid as Sam Flynn, and Olivia Wilde mooned around for 2 hours with big doe eyes and an angular haircut and made every Tron nerd’s heart and brain explode simultaneously. Michael Sheen was superb as the Bowie-like Castor/Zuse. Stealing every scene he was in, and clearly having as much fun making the film as I had watching it.
Seeing Tron: Legacy in 3D IMAX, you really get the full benefit of how utterly STUNNING this movie looks. It made me feel a bit like the pretentious kid from American Beauty watching a plastic bag swoop around a car park on the wind. Just stop for a second and appreciate how incredible this film looks! Seeing Gem (Beau Garrett)’s mesmerising, spandex clad bum, on a screen that was seven storey’s high (the 3rd largest in the World, no less) makes you realise what a wonderful World we live in. As the boffins toiled away for many moons (no pun intended) to develop the 3D technology, I wonder if they could ever have envisioned how it would have been put to such perfect a use as this. I’m sure you will join me next year in putting forward the names of those scientists for a Nobel Prize nomination. Humanity as a whole benefits from this.
From the moment the titles rolled, I was down with this movie. When the Lightcycles appeared for the first time I was grinning from ear to ear like a lunatic. The Daft Punk score is killer. Perfect almost. They put in a cameo at Castor’s sexy computer party, and channel the long lost mojo of John Carpenter. If there is any doubt from you at this point, let me spell it out: this is an exceedingly wonderful thing!
(As an aside I like to think that perhaps John Carpenter lost his movie mojo after going for a swim. Having completed his last great work, They Live, he popped into the local council swimming baths on the way home to do a few lengths. Having towelled off, dried his wavy 80’s lion hair, and sculpted his Fu Manchu moustache into its proper glory, I conceive that he got up to leave taking the wrong bag home with him! Instead of the bag containing his movie mojo, he returned home with someone’s wet swimming trunks and has, for the last 20 odd years, been making movies with a pair of damp speedos in the stead of his own raging cinematic genius. It would explain a great many things. Quite how this happened however, we can never be 100% certain. I like to think he picked up a similar looking, but incorrect bag. Perhaps it was the type of standard issue waterproof duffel bag we were issued in primary school. Perhaps it had a picture of a footballer on the front in order to make it more exciting. Whatever actually happened, it means John Carpenter’s mojo may still be in that municipal pool. Perhaps chucked on top of a locker by a school bully, or resting peacefully at the bottom of the changing room urinal alongside a solitary, moulded stud, Gola football boot.)
Finally I liked how it was titled Tron: Legacy and not something dreadfully unimaginative like Tron 2. Whenever there is a dismal numerical sequel title (hello ‘Die Hard 4.0’), all I can ever think about is Saul Rubinek’s quote from True Romance: “I have more taste in my penis”!
The title also helped the movie feel, not like a sequel, but like an extension of the story. The whole thing looked top to bottom phenomenal, and as a sequel, even though the story wasn't the strongest, it WORKED in the context of the first and didn't feel cheap! It was refreshing to see some last vestige of my childhood movie love not shit upon for a change, as well as being thoroughly enjoyable all round.
IMDB: Tron : Legacy
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