Why So Blu?

Tron: Legacy – The Functional and The Faulty

This past summer at San Diego’s Comic-Con, I had the very rare opportunity to speak with Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges regarding his role in the revival of the Tron franchise.  I had asked the seasoned screen vet what his reaction was when he was approached to do a sequel since the first film came out nearly 30 years earlier.  I remember the original film quite well (now if only my dvd copy would turn up).  Though its effects are quite dated by today’s standards, it is not only a timeless adventure for me, but for many film fans around the globe as well. Sequel murmur perpetuated for literally decades with nothing to show for it.  Then, out of the blue (not the Tron world blue), a script surfaced and was embraced.  Director Joe Kosinski brings you Tron: Legacy.

To bring you up to speed, the original film came out in 1982.  Jeff Bridges plays Kevin Flynn of Encom fame.  Flynn is sort of like the Bill Gates, with his company, Encom, becoming a parallel to Microsoft.  Unfortunately, Flynn’s jaunts into computer land, better known as “The Grid,” seemed to have finally caught up to him.  Flynn has not been seen or heard from since 1989 and here we are well into the 21st century.  His only son, Sam, has spent his adolescent years and all of his adult life, thus far, fatherless.  He occupies his days as a college dropout, with the occasional taunting of software powerhouse, Encom.

The movie wastes little time in getting Sam zapped into the Grid where he meets up rather quickly with the villainous CLU, whose face is a very CGI’d, but very, very believable.  Let me just say this; it is absolutely uncanny as to how close the likeness is to a late 1980’s Jeff Bridges.  Yes, there are scenes in the film when it’s rather obvious that what you’re looking at is not a human face, but that of a digitized creation.  However, the believability of CLU’s appearance vastly outnweighs any moments of trepidation when it comes to visual convincing.  Even the voice sounds like a younger Jeff Bridges.  What’s to stop Hollywood from making a new movie tomorrow starring Humphrey Bogart or James Dean?  It’s incredible where technology is going, but I digress.

CLU has done his best to make the “perfect” system which has to do in large part of eliminating any program he sees unfit, inappropriate, or imperfect.  If it doesn’t mean being immediately de-rezzed (killed, if you will), then the programs are carted off to the games, where thousands of spectators witness competitions pitting one innocent program against another in a battle of life or death…or shall I say existence or derezzing?  Sam finds himself in the midst of this mess, which to him is life or death, as CLU’s right hand man, Rinzler, bedazzles onlookers with his use of dual discs and astounding acrobatics; all at CLU’s beckon call.  His agility and fighting craft is second to none and Sam realizes this in a very quickly.

The action sequences are nothing short of entertaining, as the light cycles, previously only capable of right angle manuevering, now speed about in reckless fashion, taking wide turns, executing aerial jumps and performing hard stops in order to outdotheir opponents.  Returning are the familiar walls of light that trail behind the cycles, which can prove deadly to careless drivers who collide with them.  Between the big light cycle event and the disc duels, it’s one big barrage of excitement.  Then, that’s it.  There are not lulls in Tron: Legacy.  There is a lull that runs from the moment the light cycle bash is up to the final conflict at the end of the film.  Okay, there’s a throwdown somewhere in the middle of that snore-fest, but it’s not enough to rescue the attention span.  The Tron: Betrayal graphic novel was more entertaining than the movie and that’s no knock against the book.  There just ended up being too much explaining and talking that didn’t need to be there.  It felt far too drawn out when the time could’ve been better spent showing more than just the film’s one light cycle sequence.  Use the tanks!  Blow up a Recognizer!  Something!

The visuals are amazing.  Everything looks magnificenty smooth, pristine and ultra sanitary in the computer world.  Though the colors are focused on glowing whites, blues, and oranges, the limited color scheme comes across beautifully.  It did feel like something was missing with the hazy auras now gone from the characters on the Grid, but I guess we need to chalk it up to improved technology.  Perhaps that little bit of ambience from the first film could’ve been used here in some capacity.  Nevertheless, Tron: Legacy offers up a wild ride for the eyes.  I will say, avoid this film in 3D, which is what I experienced it in.  The audience was shown a message on screen stating that the film was shot in 2D and most of the scenes are in 2D, but to keep your glasses on for the entire film when encountering those 3D moments.  Those 3D moments can be counted on one hand, no joke.  Not only that, but the scenes in 3D were so unexciting, that it didn’t up the ante for a more encompassing experience in any way, shape, or form.

The acting comes across quite well, with the film boasting names such as Michael Sheen (Underworld), Olivia Wilde (House M.D.), and Garrett Hedlund (Friday Night Lights). Then there’s the aforementioned Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart) to add that dominating acting presence to the mix.  Even the original Tron himself, Bruce Boxleitner, comes back for this overdue sequel.  Despite the ensemble of talent, however, arguably one of the film’s highest marks is its soundtrack.  It fits P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y in this movie.  Techno-beat junkies, Daft Punk, were brought in to put together the score for Tron: Legacy. Not a better sound would be as befitting for the film’s environment as what was assembled here.  From the opening synthesized keyboard paying homage to familiar sounds of 1982, to the thumping night club beats of more the modern flavor, Daft Punk didn’t just hit it out of the park, they drove it into the next zip code.

In closing, it’s safe to say Tron: Legacy started out with a bang, then cooled off and remained that way for far too long.  As inviting as the landscape looked and as brilliant as the soundtrack was, it wasn’t enough to download a higher grade for this tech-fancy film.  I’d give it about a ‘C’ since story rules over all and this lumbered around a bit.   I certainly wasn’t looking for straight action from start to finish, but something a little more than what was given would have been nice.  You can’t bring the audience up, then slowly drop them, only never to bring them back up again.  It’s inefficient movie-making; a flaw the plagues Tron: Legacy.  I wanted to love this film in the worst way.  I was anticipating it more than I did Predators earlier this year and even Iron Man 2.  Maybe I set the bar a little too high in my mind, but I also didn’t expect to find such a sleep-inducing delivery at times either.   I’m giving it another go this weekend, but my history has shown that revisiting a less than spectacular impression only renews the boredom.