Star cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde.
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Director: Joseph Kosinski.
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What’s Good: The digital world – it is visually fresh; the action sequences.
What’s Bad: The weak script; the film is boring in the middle.
Verdict: Tron: Legacy fails its legacy because of the weak story.
Loo break: Anytime during the middle portion of the film.
Walt Disney Pictures’ Tron: Legacy is the sequel to the 1982 science-fiction movie, Tron, which talked about an alternate digital world, populated by software programs and users (humans). Kevin Flynn, the world’s leading video-game developer, had built this parallel digital reality called The Grid. Kevin enters The Grid and is unable to make his way back into the real world, leaving his young son, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), an orphan.
The story of Tron: Legacy begins from this point onwards. Sam is now a rebellious 27-year-old, haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father. He is an avid biker and hacker, just like his father. But he is disinterested in the legacy that his father left him, the world’s foremost technology company, Encom. In fact, he even steals the company’s latest software and puts it up on the internet for free. When his father’s friend, Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), comes calling one night, Sam shouts at him for his father’s disappearance. Bradley tells Sam that he received a pager from a phone in Kevin Flynn’s video game parlour. He asks Sam to investigate.
Once inside the defunct parlour, Sam finds a hidden underground lab. He tries hacking into one computer, and within minutes, is transferred to The Grid, which is a digital universe full of vehicles, weapons and landscapes.
Within The Grid – where software programs take human form – Sam is forced into a hi-tech gladiatorial arena. Defeating several programs, he emerges victorious. In a final fight with Rinzler (Anis Cheurfa), he tries to escape but is apprehended and taken to Clu (Jeff Bridges), his father’s digital clone, who had snatched the control of The Grid from his father and Tron, the hero of the original film.
Clu wants to test Sam and puts him in a dangerous car-fight game but Sam is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), his father’s assistant. Finally, Sam meets his father, Kevin Flynn, but Kevin is a changed man, he doesn’t want to put up a fight against Clu. In the meanwhile, Sam and Kevin’s only way back to the real world, the portal, is fast closing. They must hurry or they will be stuck here forever, just like Kevin was, years ago. Sam surreptitiously plans to attack Clu and reach the portal with Quorra’s help. Will he succeed? Will Tron, the original hero of The Grid, make a return? Will Kevin Flynn’s dream of building a perfect world survive? The rest of the film answers these questions.
Before saying anything else, let it be said that Tron: Legacy is a visual spectacle, an experience. The mysteries of the digital world are as fascinating as they are exciting. Whether the film is seen in IMAX 3D or 3D, the film’s visuals will remain with the audience long after the film.
Unfortunately, for fans of the original Tron, the film’s story (Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal) is extremely weak and does not impress. What ails Tron: Legacy is something that ails most new-age sequels (e.g. Predators) – it’s got all the bells and whistles and the visual magic, but the story has been given a short shrift. Half-way through the two-hour-long film, the audience has to put up with long, boring conversations riddled with technical jargon. The screenplay (Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz) delights only because of the way the action sequences (the car-fight and an aerial chase) have been written (and composed). Apart from that, there is not much to talk about. Even the original characters (written by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird), like Tron, have insignificant roles to play.
Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges, who essays two characters (Kevin Flynn and Clu), is excellent. Garrett Hedlund is good in the action sequences but strictly okay otherwise. Olivia Wilde looks beautiful but plastic. She provides able support. Bruce Boxleitner is okay. James Frain, as Clu’s assistant, Jarvis, stands out. Beau Garrett, as Gem, and Michael Sheen, as Castor/Zuse are good.
Director Joseph Kosinski is a master storyteller through visuals. Although the scope of the visual effects of his film does not match those of Avatar, they are not far behind either. Kosinski manages to create a whole huge new world, to which the audience is instantly drawn. Only if it had a stronger script to back all of this up with, Tron: Legacy would have been a much more palatable experience. The geeks would have loved it, because of all the technical jargon and the common folk would have been enticed by it. Unfortunately, the absence of a good story is there for all to see.
Technically, the film is superb. Cinematography by Claudio Miranda and visual effects by Digital Domain, Mr. X and Prime Focus, among others, take the cake. Music is good and the background score, by Daft Punk, complements the action sequences well.
Editing by James Haygood is okay, but the film could have been shorter, had the boring parts been chopped off at the editing table. Costume designing by Michael Wilkinson is very good.
All in all, Tron: Legacy is a much bigger project than the first part, but it fails to live up to its own legacy. It will be fascinating because of its excellent visual tapestry, but will disappoint on account of its weak story. Average business expected at the Indian box-office.
Star cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde.
Director: Joseph Kosinski.
Plot: Sam Flynn enters the digital world to look for his father, Kevin Flynn, and finds that the world has been taken over by his father’s digital clone, Clu. Will he triumph against the dark forces?
What’s Good: The digital world – it is visually fresh; the action sequences.
What’s Bad: The weak script; the film is boring in the middle.
Verdict: Tron: Legacy fails its legacy because of the weak story.
Loo break: Anytime during the middle portion of the film.
Walt Disney Pictures’ Tron: Legacy is the sequel to the 1982 science-fiction movie, Tron, which talked about an alternate digital world, populated by software programs and users (humans). Kevin Flynn, the world’s leading video-game developer, had built this parallel digital reality called The Grid. Kevin enters The Grid and is unable to make his way back into the real world, leaving his young son, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), an orphan.
The story of Tron: Legacy begins from this point onwards. Sam is now a rebellious 27-year-old, haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father. He is an avid biker and hacker, just like his father. But he is disinterested in the legacy that his father left him, the world’s foremost technology company, Encom. In fact, he even steals the company’s latest software and puts it up on the internet for free. When his father’s friend, Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), comes calling one night, Sam shouts at him for his father’s disappearance. Bradley tells Sam that he received a pager from a phone in Kevin Flynn’s video game parlour. He asks Sam to investigate.
Once inside the defunct parlour, Sam finds a hidden underground lab. He tries hacking into one computer, and within minutes, is transferred to The Grid, which is a digital universe full of vehicles, weapons and landscapes.
Within The Grid – where software programs take human form – Sam is forced into a hi-tech gladiatorial arena. Defeating several programs, he emerges victorious. In a final fight with Rinzler (Anis Cheurfa), he tries to escape but is apprehended and taken to Clu (Jeff Bridges), his father’s digital clone, who had snatched the control of The Grid from his father and Tron, the hero of the original film.
Clu wants to test Sam and puts him in a dangerous car-fight game but Sam is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), his father’s assistant. Finally, Sam meets his father, Kevin Flynn, but Kevin is a changed man, he doesn’t want to put up a fight against Clu. In the meanwhile, Sam and Kevin’s only way back to the real world, the portal, is fast closing. They must hurry or they will be stuck here forever, just like Kevin was, years ago. Sam surreptitiously plans to attack Clu and reach the portal with Quorra’s help. Will he succeed? Will Tron, the original hero of The Grid, make a return? Will Kevin Flynn’s dream of building a perfect world survive? The rest of the film answers these questions.
Before saying anything else, let it be said that Tron: Legacy is a visual spectacle, an experience. The mysteries of the digital world are as fascinating as they are exciting. Whether the film is seen in IMAX 3D or 3D, the film’s visuals will remain with the audience long after the film.
Unfortunately, for fans of the original Tron, the film’s story (Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal) is extremely weak and does not impress. What ails Tron: Legacy is something that ails most new-age sequels (e.g. Predators) – it’s got all the bells and whistles and the visual magic, but the story has been given a short shrift. Half-way through the two-hour-long film, the audience has to put up with long, boring conversations riddled with technical jargon. The screenplay (Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz) delights only because of the way the action sequences (the car-fight and an aerial chase) have been written (and composed). Apart from that, there is not much to talk about. Even the original characters (written by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird), like Tron, have insignificant roles to play.
Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges, who essays two characters (Kevin Flynn and Clu), is excellent. Garrett Hedlund is good in the action sequences but strictly okay otherwise. Olivia Wilde looks beautiful but plastic. She provides able support. Bruce Boxleitner is okay. James Frain, as Clu’s assistant, Jarvis, stands out. Beau Garrett, as Gem, and Michael Sheen, as Castor/Zuse are good.
Director Joseph Kosinski is a master storyteller through visuals. Although the scope of the visual effects of his film does not match those of Avatar, they are not far behind either. Kosinski manages to create a whole huge new world, to which the audience is instantly drawn. Only if it had a stronger script to back all of this up with, Tron: Legacy would have been a much more palatable experience. The geeks would have loved it, because of all the technical jargon and the common folk would have been enticed by it. Unfortunately, the absence of a good story is there for all to see.
Technically, the film is superb. Cinematography by Claudio Miranda and visual effects by Digital Domain, Mr. X and Prime Focus, among others, take the cake. Music is good and the background score, by Daft Punk, complements the action sequences well.
Editing by James Haygood is okay, but the film could have been shorter, had the boring parts been chopped off at the editing table. Costume designing by Michael Wilkinson is very good.
All in all, Tron: Legacy is a much bigger project than the first part, but it fails to live up to its own legacy. It will be fascinating because of its excellent visual tapestry, but will disappoint on account of its weak story. Average business expected at the Indian box-office.
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