TRON: Legacy

Sam Flynn, heir to the computer program corporation ENCOM and son of missing innovative programmer Kevin Flynn, finds himself in his father’s computer world of living humanoid programs and cruel gladiatorial games where his father Kevin has been all along, in TRON: Legacy, a sequel to the 1982 film TRON by Steven Lisberger. TRON: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn and Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn (as well as Kevin Flynn’s program Clu), along with Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and Bruce Boxleitner and is the directorial debut by Joseph Kosinski with a screenplay by Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal.

So It’s almost been thirty years and a lot has changed since the original, for one thing I was born, so forgive my assumption of authority as I talk about this film.

TRON: Legacy does a very good job of continuing and expanding from the original while still maintaining a sense of continuity from its predecessor not to mention an amount of respect for it too. Its balance between its own versions of the real world and the computer world are very in tune with the portrayals made in the original film and, much to the pleasure of this reviewer, the film has gone forward in dramatising the bizarre nature of the film saga’s fantasy elements. Unfortunately there are no real big reflections on current technology, aside from a small bit of satire in an early scene, however what is contained within this film is a wonderful mix of homages to various classic science-fiction and fantasy films (2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Star Wars to name a few) ultimately mixing into a very interesting story of its own, that contains surprisingly mature themes about religion, good & evil and concepts of fascism. The problem is that the pace in which this story is told is quite convoluted, leaving an uncomfortable amount of exposition sprinkled over the progression of the film, despite some admirable story-telling choices, an example being the fact that the film’s plot only really kicks in after the first hour (good thing).

These issues aside, there is an excellent sense of adventure and atmosphere as well as a collection of very entertaining action sequences. The characters that drive the story of the film prove to be very likable and followable as they are backed by very good performances, particularly with Garret Hedlund as the typically heroic lead Sam Flynn, a combination of John Connor and Chris Pine’s portayal of James T. Kirk in last year’s Star Trek.  As well as this Jeff Bridges’ return as Kevin Flynn is warmly welcomed, especially with his father-son relationship with Hedlund. Michael Sheen also appears with an unexpectedly charming and eccentric performance as the program Castor and Olivia Wilde’s performance as Quorra, Kevin Flynn’s right hand (wo)man, proves extraordinarily sweet while giving the character much strength, similar to the character Leeloo from The Fifth Element.

One defining thing this film has marked for me is that it has finished any remaining interest I have had in 3D as a feature in cinema as the wearing of the 3D glasses, while watching this film, has taken away more than it has added to the experience once again. I’ll watch Drive Angry in 3D but I don’t plan on watching anything like TRON: Legacy with it again.

In the end the return of the world of TRON has proven worthy of expansion and continuation with a new chapter that is just as good, if not better, than the 80s classic. Although this film has something of a broken pace in its story telling, it is still a largely fun and rewarding film with excellent action and impressively interesting themes and atmosphere.

I happily await its sequel. Don’t think there will be one?
Two words: Cillian Murphy.

4.5 out of 5

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