Tron: Legacy (spoiler-free review)
Entry posted by Nathan Strum
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I saw Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3-D today, after months of waiting and anticipation.
With much effort, I did manage to avoid spoilers - although some twit in the audience was talking during the film and guessed one during the movie. Here's a suggestion to all of you who are going to movies and like to talk during them... BE QUIET! You aren't at home watching TV, and nobody wants to hear you talking during the movie they're paying to watch. If you can't stand not hearing yourself talk for the duration of a movie, then stay home!
Got that?
Good.
Don't got that?
Stuff your popcorn-hole shut if you can't handle not-talking. End-of-line. 
Now then, onto the movie. 
Just for those of you who don't want to know anything about the movie, skip this review. I won't put any spoilers in here, but I will reference information as revealed by the trailers. Otherwise it would be a really hard review to write.
Last chance.
So, here we go.
At the outset, I started off really liking the movie. As it started off, it hit all the right notes and did a good (if lengthy) job telling everyone not familiar with Tron what it was all about. There's a fair amount of flashbacks and plot exposition in this film, but nowhere nearly as much or as convoluted as the Matrix sequels.
The real-world opening of the film is nicely done, and does a good job of introducing us to Sam Flynn. He comes off immediately as a likable guy, and a good protagonist for the film. Also, this section of the film is in 2-D (and it's noted before the film begins, so idiots don't sit there yelling "hey, this 3-D sucks!") The movie does a good job updating us on what has happened in the years since the first film, what has happened with Sam, Encom, and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Kevin Flynn. There's good writing here, good character moments, and it makes for a great setup for the rest of the film. There are also some really nice nods to the first film, and to the 80's in general. (It wouldn't be Flynn's arcade without... we'll, you'll know. 
)
Once we enter the computer world, the 3-D kicks in, and at times the computer world is indeed stunning. There is some impressive design and breathtaking set pieces in there. There are also some that aren't quite-so-impressive. But it can't be all awesome, all the time. At the very least though, it's visually interesting, and uniquely recognizable as the Tron world, despite it's radically different look from the first film. This is how an update should be done. It's a little confusing at times as to where things are in relation to each other, but I think that's a minor quibble. Still, having the characters look at a map once wouldn't have hurt. I do have one criticism about the look though... some of the circuitry patterns on the costumes are pretty bland. I really missed the complexity of the circuit patterns from the original film. While that might not have been practical with these costumes (which are self-illuminated), I think that even a little more detail would have gone a long way towards making some of the characters look less like they were just wearing rubber costumes with a few glowing bits attached.
Once in the computer world, we're quickly introduced to its denizens, and it's clear from the outset that something not-quite-right is happening. What though, we don't yet know. Sam gets caught up into the middle of it, much like his dad did in the original film, and is quickly dropped into the middle of some lethal versions of video games. The games are nice homages to the original movie, but they've been taken to a whole new level of visual polish and action. It felt very much like watching Tron did all of those years ago. All of this was quite excellent.
The characters introduced in the film are all interesting and well acted. Castor (the flamboyant nightclub owner) is very over-the-top, but meant to be so, and he manages to pull it off without seeming silly. He's just a weird guy who seems to fit into this weird world very well. Flynn's lackey Jarvis is a fun character, and adds the typical inept-henchman comic-relief. Quorra (Olivia Wilde) is a great mix of naivety and fiercely loyal warrior. And she's quite easy on the eyes, I might add.
The relationships between the principle characters are generally pretty well written and acted, although the emotions don't always seem to ring as true as they should, as if the actors weren't given quite enough time in some scenes, or held back emotionally. I especially would have liked to have seen more interplay or history between Kevin Flynn and CLU, although they do eventually pay off with some of that. But I would have liked to have seen more. There's some potential for sibling rivalry of sorts between CLU and Sam as "offspring" of Kevin, but that's never explored. Also, some of the dialog of the older Kevin Flynn was a little more hippie-esque than his character used in the first film. But then if you'd been cooped up inside of a computer for that long, maybe you'd be a little eccentric, too. (I suspect though that a lot of that flavor came from Bridges' own personality.)
That said, the history that was shown within the computer world was interesting, and it helped raise the stakes in some regards. But it never seemed all that critical to me. Maybe because the premise of the key event the whole movie revolves around was all a little bit... fantastic (as in "removed from reality" fantastic, not "extremely excellent" fantastic).
It became a little unclear during the film exactly how certain things had to happen, which is when things began to fall apart for me a little bit. We know the humans are going to want to get back out of the computer, so that's a pretty clear goal, although it was a little confusing why they had to go a particular place to do so, when that was a different place than where they came in. I wish they'd made that a little more clear. (Actually, I wish they'd explained that at all.) And this also ties into the key plot point of the film, and therefore, the key plot problem.
Y'see, the bad guy has a plan. And the problem with it, is that even for Tron, even for Sci-Fi, and even for me, it was too far-fetched. Now, I'm pretty good at suspending disbelief when watching a film. The first Tron film is a good example. Or most sci-fi. But it's a plot point that seems to violate the world of Tron. Or at least common sense. Yet, it's a plot point that Steven Lisberger had brought up in a commentary once as something he wanted to do, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by it. But I would have thought something more... computer-oriented... would have been a better bad guy goal. Or at least have some bogus logical explanation of how it was supposed to work. So I had trouble accepting it as a threat, since the whole idea of how or if it could work - even in the context of this film - was lost on me. That said, I probably would have been okay even with that, if I hadn't been so distracted by the film's biggest problem.
That problem (which I expected, but had hoped it wouldn't be so bad) was the de-aging effect used for CLU, and during flashbacks. At times it's acceptable. At others, it's dreadful to the point of distraction. (A fact I suspect the filmmakers recognized, since they used a heavy screen filter effect during the flashbacks.) Maybe others won't notice it as much as I did, but the reviews are already starting to mention it. The technology, apparently, just isn't there yet. Look back at Forrest Gump sometime to see how laughable their altered historical footage looks, where they have presidents and celebrities spouting off dialogue through badly animated mouths. Same sort of thing. But Tron: Legacy used the same technology as Avatar - and that worked fine. Maybe there just wasn't enough time (or money) to polish it to the same degree. More likely though, the reason that Avatar worked, is that you were looking at inhuman, tall, skinny, blue aliens with huge eyes and big ears. They're far enough from human to be believable. But in Tron, even though CLU is a program, they're still trying to pass him off as a human being, and it only rarely works. The teeth and lips are all wrong, the mouth moves funny (sort of like Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot at the end of the movie 
), and the eyes look somewhat dead. In the computer world, they have the City, the Badlands, the Game Grid, the Sea of Simulation, and so forth. They should have also had a place called the Uncanny Valley. It would've been a great plot point. "Well, we have to cross the Uncanny Valley again." "Why?" "Oh no reason... we just have to. Several times. Get used to it." 
That said, overall, I really enjoyed Tron: Legacy. When fake Jeff Bridges wasn't distracting me, or when there wasn't a plot problem (such as, "oh hey, let's take this convenient plot device to get to the next scene!"), there were some genuinely fun moments in the film. There were some great action sequences, good moments of humor, and lots of loving references to the original Tron. There were also some neat surprises which will warm the heart of any Tron fan. The soundtrack was excellent, and the sound effects evoked the original film while still sounding modern. It's a worthy sequel to the original, and a good modern take on one of the most unique properties in filmdom.
As for the presentation in IMAX 3-D, well... it mostly worked. In fact, the IMAX countdown before the film started was one of the most impressive things I've seen in 3-D. But there was, at times, significant ghosting, and the end credits seemed to jitter badly. Fast sequences were hard to follow on a screen that big, and the nature of a 24 frame per second format is really starting to show its age. With films being created digitally now, it's time to up the framerate, so action can smooth out without that annoying shuddering that happens. At times the picture was gorgeous though, with good use of 3-D, vivid color, and impressive depth and detail. At its best, it was excellent. Even at its worst though, it wasn't bad. Still, I may go see it again in Digital 3-D, to see what the difference is. I'd like to go see it again anyway. The film was good enough to justify another run through, and maybe I'd pick up some things I missed the first time around.
And without spilling any details, yes - the film has been left wide open for a sequel (rumor has it, they're looking at a trilogy, although I don't know if that's a trilogy of new films, or if it includes the original). In fact, it pretty-much demands a sequel.
I hope it gets the chance. The theater was full today, but there wasn't any cheering or applause (there were a few times I felt like doing so... but I didn't want to be the odd man out). The reviews are mixed, with critics generally blasting it (48% at Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences liking it (81%). The reviews up at IGN have been positive (which is something I suppose the target demographic will respect), and oddly enough, Roger Ebert liked it. Go figure.
In this recent (and lengthy) post, I came up with a list of things Tron: Legacy needed in order to succeed. Let's see how they did...
- Engaging characters.
- A good story.
(overall good, except for the key plot point)
- It has to be fun. (mostly)
- The dialog has to be engaging and well-written, so people don't get bored or confused. (but there were some high points)
- It has to be well crafted. (fake Jeff Bridges hurts, here)
- The film must be visually stunning.
- Innovative use of stereoscopic 3-D. (more often than not)
- The sound should be awesome.
- It has to please the original Tron fans.
Admittedly, I'm biased. But I also think I'm in a position to be most disappointed if it was a bad film. It wasn't. Just not as good as I would have liked. But Tron: Legacy was certainly an order of magnitude beyond what anyone could have reasonably expected for a sequel to a 28-year-old box office flop.
I'll give it... 7.5/10
(One of these days, I should go back and re-score my old movie reviews. I was far too generous with some of them.)
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