Tron Legacy

There seems to be a rule in Hollywood for cult remakes; the budget is negatively proportional to the magic; as the budget increases the wit and charm found in the original deceases. This film is no different and with a budget of ten times as much as the classic, you can guess how this turns out.

For those who haven’t seen the first one there is a brief summary that explains how Kevin Flynn was able to go into a computer and discover ‘the Grid’ and all the computer programs that inhabited it.  He then goes missing for 20 years until his son Sam Flynn, played by Garrett Hedlund, enters the Grid to find him.

The huge budget that Disney gave the movie was not spent on the story, but on the stunning special effects, which successfully brings the Grid into the 21^st century. It does this with great action scenes that include exciting disc fights and light cycle chases. Along with the visuals there is a great sound track full of 80’s style synth that was written by Daft Punk and might be one of the best bits of the movie. Sadly apart from this, the rest of the film feels incredibly average.

The story is not very engaging to start with and we are left with only the action sequences to appreciate; unfortunately, this simply isn’t enough to distract from the dull and predictable plot. On top of this, with the exception of Olivia Wilde and Michael Sheen, who were both, enjoyable to watch, the rest of the cast was unremarkable. Garrett Hedlund was wooden and unemotional while Jeff Bridges felt all over the place. In pandering to the fans of the first film Kevin Flynn doesn’t seem to have changed in the 20 years he is trapped on the Grid, making his character vary between sensei like Obi Wan and stoned surfer (The Dude). Although his laid back attitude might have worked on a 30-year old man, it doesn’t feel quite right on someone in their 50s who surely must have lived through an awful lot in those long 20 years, so he seems foolish rather than trnedy. There was also a huge problem with the computer animated Jeff Bridges. The programme Clu, which Kevin Flynn creates when he enters the Grid is meant to look like the Jeff Bridges from the 1982 original. However the computer animation was lazily done and although Clu vaguely resembled a young Jeff Bridges, he looks like he has had one too many facelifts, as he appears completely lineless.  All these problems make the film feel like a Miss Universe pageant: it is great to look at, but lacks any real complexity, depth or true heart.

 

Degree: 2:2

Overall the film isn’t necessarily bad, it just isn’t good either. It feels very shallow and can’t recapture the magic of the original film and even those who haven’t seen the first one easily notice this.

(If you are confused about the rating system please click on the ‘About This Blog Page’ which will explain it all)

 

Suits you sir!

Here is a small featurette about the suits and costumes found in new Tron: Legacy. This film is getting so much hype that I fear it may not live up to expectation, but I also have yet to see anything that makes me suspect it won’t be any good. We will have to wait and see.

Tron Legacy

It was not hugely popular on release, but has accumulated a huge cult status as being one of the best video game themed film of all time and now the story of Tron is continuing with Tron Legacy.

Tron Legacy follows Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) the son of original protagonist Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) as he searches for his father who went missing at the end of the last film. To find him he must enter the computer game world of Tron where each pixel has a mind of it’s own.

A lot of the original motifs and ideas from the 1982 film have been kept in by given a 21st century, big budget make over. The green screen and CGI look fantastic and it is likely that the 3D will be done incredibly well. Also Jeff Bridges plays his younger counterpart and the CGI has been used superbly to make him look identical to how he used to look back in the first one. This is likely going to have huge box office ratings when it is released on December 17th.