CotW: Tron: Legacy Review

It has been said that there are two kinds of people in this world: those that like Tron and those that love Tron.

(Before you ask, no I will never tire of repeating that joke. EVER.)

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of its sequel, Tron: Legacy, released today, some 18 years after the first chapter.

I took my seat with the expectation that I was about to watch a movie in love with its own spectacle. I was prepared to sacrifice plot coherence for moments of visual fireworks. So, imagine my surprise to find that T:L, as all the cool kids call it, was actually kind of an inert mass, severely lacking in impressive action set pieces.

The biggest problem is, like the Star Wars prequels before it, the movie confuses complicated with complex. I am all for the slow revealing of the past via flashbacks and teasing references, building to a crescendo. T:L, however, has too much backstory to reveal and thus cannot afford this coy approach. Instead, it rolls out the information is large chunks, coating the action in stultifying bursts of exposition. Lucas, at least, had the good sense to fill us in on all those trade issues during the opening crawl.

On the other hand, the movie also seems to expect one to be an expert on the nearly 20 year old first film. A film that many have been unable to buy or even rent off Netflix, a glaring mistake if there ever was one. Thus, when the CEO calls out Edward Dillinger Jr (an uncredited Cillian Murphy who is on-screen so briefly, I can only assume he was either on the lot for something else or a friend of the director’s) as being a part of the family tradition, many (most?) might not realize that his father played both the “real world” and “Grid” villain in the initial Tron. Thus, the film takes on a strange quality in which some things are wildly over explained while others are slip by in such a way that the viewer may feel uneasily as though they missed something. And, of course, they have.

Another small negative note is the depiction of Encom, the computer programming company in the first film that has risen to become a Microsoft-esqued corporate entity. I know, as a liberal, I should really hate corporations, and I do. Oh, I swear I do. But Encom and its Board of Directors is essentially demonized for…putting out a product and charging for it. Yes, there is the implication that it is not all that different than the previous version, but mostly it comes down to Encom wants people to pay for their operating system and that’s not the way Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges)—the hero of Tron and the CEO of Encom until his disappearance several years prior—would have done it if he was still around and in charge. The problem here is this: via flashbacks, it is established that Encom was very successful under Flynn, including producing the two most bought video games of all time. In addition, a look around his son Sam’s room reveals posters, statues, and action figures based on these games. So, Flynn was in the business of making money too. Yes, corporations that take advantage of the population, lie about the dangers of their products, cut corners or workers to save money with still recording record profits, etc are bad. I’m on board with that. But T:L never convinces me that Encom is that kind of corporation and thus the antics of adult Sam (Garrett Hedlund) are less rallying and more “well that was kind of a dumb thing to do.”

It is not all bad news on the Grid though. The action sequences that are present offer compelling visuals and nicely update Tron’s original vision of the Grid without losing its recognizability. Jeff Bridges also does nice work as Zen master Flynn, who has been stuck in the Grid for years but still utters things. “Dogs. Well, dogs are cool,” and “That’s radical!” In someone else’s mouth, these lines could be disastrous, but Bridges sells them without blinking and the result imbues Flynn with a goofy charm that keeps him light when he could have been crushed by the weight of self-seriousness heaped upon him. He does similarly nice voicework with Clu, his evil doppelganger that remains as youthful as he did in the first movie. Capturing Bridge’s visage circa 1982 was done with effects—think more The Polar Express, less Benjamin Button—and it mostly works. Even the times when the filmmakers push their tech too far and Clu looks a bit rubber-faced and “off” kind of work, given the digital realm most the story unfolds in.

Michael Sheen turns in a fun performance as well as Castor/Zuse, a former resistance fighter who appears to have embraced hedonism as an escape from his inability to stop Clu’s agenda. As rendered by Sheen, Castor plays like Jim Carrey’s Riddler meets Chris Tucker’s Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element. He’s goofy, elastic, has an affinity for cane twirling, and, most of all, chews up as much of his digital surroundings as his belly can handle. He is such a breath of fresh air that his departure renders the rest of the film a bit…stale in comparison.

Overall, sadly, these performances cannot save a movie that has fallen in love with its imagery shot through with implications of Nazism that it would rather give you more of Clu making a speech than plot, character development, or a truly cool action sequence.

Sorry, folks, not even Ms Wilde in a light suit is enough to fully redeem this Tron.

A Few Words about Tron: Legacy in 3d

Much like The Last Airbender and Clash of the Titans, T:L was shot in 2d and converted later. Thus, unlike Avatar, in which the world of the film literally seemed all around you, T:L can only add depth to the screen. It is like looking at a Magic Eye poster. Yes, you achieve a 3d effect, but it remains a wildly flat one.

Also, a dark one. As pointed out by my friend Didz, converting to 3d leaves movies darker. T:L, however, like so many other movies converted to the 3d after the fact, did nothing to address this. There is, therefore, some muddiness and I noticed that, especially during flashbacks, faces can be difficult to see clearly.

For all intents and purposes, you are better off seeing the 2d version and saving yourself some cash. Plus, a print not converted for 3d might actually feature better color correction and make for a better viewing experience.

As always Tim can be reached at parallax2 [at] juno [dot] com, followed on Twitter @UnGajje, or friended on Facebook. Please feel free to do so or comment below.