Twenty-eight years ago Disney released a film that was a landmark in special effects as well as a hit which remains to this day in cult status. Using technologies and effects techniques never before used in cinema, the original Tron was a spectacle to behold. Twenty years later Disney released a video game sequel to the film titled Tron 2.0 in order to tests the waters for interest in a movie sequel. The game didn’t make as much as planned, and a new movie sequel was about to be left in the idea stage forever. Something happened in planning and interest grew and grew until it became one of the most anticipated movies in Disney’s lineup. Understanding this, Disney threw as much as they could into the film. IMAX? Yea, it’s a necessity. 3D? Why not, we want to break ground with this. A digital version of Jeff Bridges from 1982? Yes, that’ will be our catch effect. Like the original Tron’s CG vehicles and backlighting for the glow effects, the younger CG Jeff Bridges playing Kevin Flynn and CLU (Codified Likeness Utility) may just be that new digital effect that catches on in other projects. From what I can tell, the only other time it was done in a convincing manner was Terminator: Salvation for Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that was only for one scene. Jeff Bridge’s digital double was a main character in the film prominent from the beginning to the end.
The story of Tron Legacy ties in well with the original, not appearing to be just an irrelevant cash-in. The story starts in the two-issue comic book series Tron: Betrayal, continues in the video game Tron: Evolution, and ends in Tron: Legacy. In the original Tron film, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) takes control of ENCOM, a computer technology corporation working on digitizing (taking matter from reality and teleporting it into the computer) and a computer monitoring and security program with learning capabilities called the Master Control Program. After destroying the MCP which was bent on taking over all computers in the world, Flynn repurposes the company to software and video games. After having his life changed with his experience in the computer world, he goes on to create his own computer world with Tron and CLU called “The Grid”. Tron is a security program from the first film that helped Flynn destroy the MCP, and CLU is a new version of the destroyed hacking program created by Flynn himself. The new CLU, made in Flynn’s image to assist in running The Grid, eventually becomes embittered with the task of running an entire world on his own without the assistance of the creator of himself and the world he’s tasked to run. CLU begins to rule as an evil tyrant, almost completely destroying an entire race of programs called “ISOs”, which weren’t created by Flynn or any other program, and were self-created and have more freedom and no constraints like other programs. The programs created in The Grid all have their own purposes, and all have makers, which the ISOs have no purpose or makers. CLU sees them as imperfect and chaotic in a world he thrives to keep perfect and in order. One ISO survives, named Quorra, and helps Kevin Flynn’s son Sam find his father and take down the twisted and corrupt CLU before he can leave The Grid and try to “perfect” the entire world.
The acting in Tron: Legacy is hit and miss. Some characters feel emotionless and flat, with maybe a spark of something special (like CLU, who doesn’t appear to be as evil as he is determined, or Quorra who is genuinely like a curious child with the ability to kick more ass than most women we’ve seen lately, but still feels artificial like a program should). Jeff Bridge’s acting as Kevin Flynn really impressed me. He had the fun-loving and immature attitude of the original Flynn, so many years later, and it even reminded me of his hilarious role as The Dude in “The Big Lebowski”. Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn didn’t impress me at all. He seemed to just be doing what he had to do and that was it, he was flat and uninteresting as a main character. Olivia Wilde as Quorra had me drooling whenever she was on screen, and it didn’t hurt that she had the innocent wide-eyed wondrous thing going for her. Wilde and Bridges are the two actors in the film whose roles I’ll remember.
The special effects in Tron: Legacy are amazing on their own, but (like Avatar) it’s really meant to be seen in 3D. This is one of the few films that were made, from the ground up, in 3D (like Resident Evil: Afterlife, supposedly). The film shows the real world in 2D, but then makes the transition to 3D once the viewer enters The Grid. This is a very nice effect, telling the viewer that we’re now in a completely different world. The digital splashing and gibbing of programs getting derezzed (killed), the discs, light vehicles, and lasers flying passed all make great use of the 3D technology. The world itself, being completely CG, has locations that make it seem like it could be a real world if it were made completely inside a computer. All of the glowing objects from the light trails of the light vehicles to the cane/laser gun carried by one character, to the costumes of the characters themselves all fed your eyes like many MANY different colors and flavors of candy. The most impressive effect in the movie is the character of CLU. As stated earlier, he’s literally Jeff Bridges from 1982. If there was a way to clone him and make him almost 30 years younger, this digital representation would be it. There was only one quick shot where I could tell it was a digital effect, otherwise for the rest of the movie it was impossible to tell.
The music in Daft Punk couldn’t have been anymore perfect if it tried. Daft Punk, possibly one of the most famous electronica duos in the world right now, signed on to do the entire soundtrack of the film. Digital synths mixed with orchestral backing makes for a great (and extremely bass-heavy) score for the world created in this film, and it really enhances the tension and mood of the action scenes. My only real complaint was that there were literally no musical throwbacks to the original film’s soundtrack or themes. The entire thing was a new project, and I guess that goes with the whole world in this film being completely separate from the computer world in the first film. Still, at least one audio homage would’ve been nice. The Tron 2.0 video game did it and it worked well; however, the world in that game was the same world as in the original movie. Still, Daft Punk did a great job with their first full movie score. Go and listen to Derezzed, you can find it on YouTube or Yahoo Movies for free.
My only real major complaint with this film is the ending. In the original film, human users inside the computer have more power than the programs do (Flynn was able to reassemble a crashed “Recognizer” ship, change his costume’s color to match the security costumes, redirect a beam of energy with his hand, and resurrect a friend). In this film, Kevin Flynn is basically the god of The Grid since he’s the creator. That doesn’t mean he is all-powerful. He is able to be hurt and killed, he has to still move and function just like any other normal human, much like a program. Yes, users have more power and abilities, but what happens in the end seems a bit farfetched to me. He pops this new ability out of nowhere which may or may not have destroyed The Grid in the end, which makes me wonder why he didn’t do it sooner before all of CLU’s craziness got way out of hand. I may be misinterpreting what happened or just not understanding the circumstances, it just didn’t feel right to me. The film as a whole was phenomenal, but the ending didn’t fit for me. Overall I’d give it a 9.5. I was very impressed, but the ending could’ve used a little more work.
