Film Addict's April Film Choice

I've been so busy at work recently, with picking up some extra shifts and doing stock-take, I have been knackered when I get home so I haven't read any of my books at all or been to the cinema either.  Fortunately, I knew I had many films to choose from at home to review for my Film Addict's April Film Choice and I chose this month's film because I love it so much for the franchise and the visual effects used.  So ladies and gents, it's Tron: Legacy.

Tron: Legacy is the 2010 science fiction film directed by Joseph Kosinski and is the sequel to Steven Lisberger's and Disney's Tron (1982) which has become a cult film.  With the cult following, Disney decided to fund a sequel which included two of the former cast, Jeff Bridges (Iron Man, Crazy Heart) and Bruce Boxleitner (Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Babylon 5) reprising their roles from the original while bringing new blood into the franchise, Garrett Hedlund (Four Brothers, Troy), Olivia Wilde (In Time, House M.D.), Michael Sheen (Underworld, The Queen), Beau Garrett (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Made of Honour), and James Frain (The Tudors, True Blood).  In Tron, 28 years before Tron: Legacy, Kevin Flynn (Bridges) runs a video game arcade having been fired from ENCOM by another engineer who stole his video game programs (Space Paranoids being one of them), Edward Dillinger (David Warner, Planet of the Apes) and took credit for creating them which earned him a number of promotions.  Once Alan Bradley (Boxleitner), Flynn's friend who still works at ENCOM, is locked out of the ENCOM mainframe by the Master Control Program (MCP) because Flynn has been trying to hack the ENCOM mainframe from his own computer to prove he created the programs that got Dillinger his high position at ENCOM, he goes to Flynn and warns him that Dillinger knows what he is doing so Flynn persuade Alan and Laura, another employee of ENCOM and Flynn's ex-girlfriend, to get him into ENCOM so he can hack it from the inside a bit more discreetly.  All goes well until the MCP beams Flynn into the ENCOM mainframe and he has to ensure that he survives with the help of TRON and YORI and also gain evidence that Dillinger stole his programs.  Eventually, Flynn gains his evidence while saving the programs in the ENCOM mainframe from the control of the MCP and he is able to get back to reality and take his rightful place back at ENCOM, paving the future for the rest of the franchise and for his son.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Visual effects geeks; Tron fans

Favourite Characters: Sam - just connected with him

Favourite Part: Guard: Didn't anyone tell you?  Stealing is wrong.              
Sam: You can't steal what was designed to be free.           
[...]
Guard: You're Mr. Flynn?  Why?  This is your father's company. 
Sam: Not anymore.  [raises arms and starts to lean back so to fall off the top of the ENCOM tower]

Good Points: Visually stunning; music; references to the original

Bad Points: Predictable plot; introducing Edward Dillinger Jr.; Kevin Flynn's younger face

Tron: Legacy opens with Kevin Flynn, the protagonist of the original, Tron, telling his 7 year old son, Sam, about the Grid, a virtual reality he has created and is continuing to build with the help of Tron from the old system he worked on and his new version of CLU.  Toward the end of his story, Flynn gets up as he has to go to work but promises that he'll take Sam with him sometime so that he can learn about it first-hand, leaving Sam with his grandparents (Flynn's mum and dad) as Sam's mother and Flynn's wife died when Sam was very young.  Unfortunately tragedy strikes young Sam again as his father disappears without a trace, leaving the future of ENCOM unknown and Sam orphaned, even though he firmly believes his father is coming back.  By 27, Sam (Hedlund) has become more cynical about the world and his father as he's been alone for pretty much 10 years following the death of his grandparents, living off of the money he gets as the primary shareholder of ENCOM while playing a prank on the board annually as it is no longer the company his father built back in the 1980s.  Following this year's prank, Sam returns home to find Alan Bradley who tried to act as a father figure for Sam during his youth.  Once again, Alan tries to convince Sam that Flynn is still alive because he has received a page from Flynn's office at the arcade he used to run before he took over as CEO of ENCOM which Sam doesn't believe or is some ploy Alan cooked up to encourage Sam to take over as CEO.  Before leaving, Alan gives Sam the keys to the arcade so that the young Flynn can investigate it first as it could potentially lead to his long last father who he refuses to admit he misses as well.

I become a big mess when I watch this film because it's just visually stunning on the camera work to the production design to the visual effects.  The framing on some of the shots and the angles used were extremely well placed and became some of my favourite scenes as they are some of the moments I remember the most about this film.  For example, when Sam and some programs go up against CLU and his sentries on the lightcycles.  The lightcycle match was an iconic part of Tron and with an update, it is yet again an iconic moment for the franchise.  I also loved how the costumes and all of the sets developed from the first film as the technology available now allowed for the production team to create some outstanding pieces including costumes that actually light up including suits and jackets, something that was created through digital effects in Tron.  Apart from these two things that create visual appeal, the film nerd/geek in me adores the visual effects which contribute to the visual aesthetic because they were incredible and made this film even more realistic and makes me believe that there is a chance that going into the computer like this could happen.

I loved the music for this film as it fit extremely well with the tone that the team wanted as well as the franchise; personally, I think they chose well with Daft Punk because I love their music anyway.  What made their involvement  in this film even better was actually giving them a part to play in the film as the DJs in Castor's (Sheen) club, End of Line, when Sam tries to escape the Grid inconspicuously so to help his father.  Even integrating their normal stage costumes and giving it a Tron makeover made their parts even better because it was believable that they were actually part of this work.  Maybe that's who Daft Punk are, music programs who escaped from the Grid years ago and slipped back in when Sam returned.

When a film is originally a standalone but becomes the predecessor to a franchise which includes a full length sequel, sometimes the sequel has very little reference to the original; however, there were a number of references scattered throughout the film which I found to be fantastic as they are what drew me to the sequel and the Tron franchise in the first place such as the lightcycles and the Games that the programs are forced to take part in.  the key links between the original and Tron Legacy are Flynn, Alan Bradley, and Tron who were all characters from Tron and CLU in a way as he is an updated version of an old program Flynn made before Tron.  They've all changed over the years, especially Flynn who has become a father and the CEO of ENCOM at the start of Tron: Legacy so has outgrown most of his childish behaviour which was great because I always find it intriguing to see how a character would develop over the course of their life.  Some of the smaller references that were slipped in made me smile and appealed to my little film nerd, such as the gold and silver ornaments shaped like Bit in Flynn's hideout because it was such a cute thing in Tron.  Even the little things Sam did when he breaks into ENCOM, like when his father did the same thing 28 years beforehand, were great because it further implied the biological connection between the two main characters.  While they could be seen as pointless or forgettable, these appeal to the little film nerd in me and make me laugh and/or smile as I am happy that they want to reaffirm a connection to the inspiration behind this film.

Sam is just a fantastic character from my point of view as I connected with him almost instantly as I understood his motivation behind his actions.  He is just like his father when he was younger - impulsive, cocky, intelligent, fun-loving, with a great amount of potential which is wasted in a way - though this time, this member of the Flynn family as has a reluctant part to him due to abandonment issues he's had since his father disappeared when he was 7.  I also love the actor who portrays him from when he was in Four Brothers which is another one of my favourite films; I like to see how someone progresses as an actor/director and personally, I think he's improved a significant amount since Four Brothers because he carries the lead role well and becoming Sam Flynn has allowed him to take on more of a lead action role.

Personally, I do agree with some critics and reviewers of this film when they say that the plot was lacking and predictable due to a focus on the visual effects rather than developing a more complicated plot which is a drawback for me in a way because I would have liked to see Sam's life explored a bit more as he has a great amount of potential as a main character and we could get to know him more.  However, another way to interpret this predictable plot is that it was just a simple and clear plot so to overload the brain and allow you to appreciate the visual effects used and throughout this film as they are stunning and have come a long way from the effects used for this film's predecessor.

While it is a clear nod to one of the antagonists of the original, Tron, I don't fully understand why they introduced Edward Dillinger Jr., who has a high position in ENCOM, despite his father's past.  It seems like a waste of time, and potential for the character, especially when they cast Cillian Murphy (Sunshine) in the part as he is only present for one scene and then never speak of him again.  Maybe they introduced him in this film so that if they do a sequel, they already have an established character who could act as an antagonist.

As I've said, the visual effects are stunning in this film and it is impressive that they were able to de-age Jeff Bridges's face so that CLU hadn't aged since his creation while Flynn inevitably aged, as humans do, despite the fact that he's been living in a computer for 20 years.  However, occasionally CLU's face sometimes doesn't look quite right as it didn't move quite right when the camera was at a certain angle or it just looked a little too flat at points, as if Bridges has had too much Botox.  This wasn't a major drawback for me as it still showed how far we've come over the 27 years as we can make an actor look almost how they did back when they were younger.  One way this effect would have worked better for me would have been if they had just used it for CLU and not shown Flynn with the altered face, though that would mean not showing his face though the flashbacks which would be highly improbable.

Guard: Didn't anyone tell you?  Stealing is wrong.             
Sam: You can't steal what was designed to be free.           
[...]
Guard: You're Mr. Flynn?  Why?  This is your father's company.
Sam: Not anymore.  [raises arms and starts to lean back so to fall off the top of the ENCOM tower]

This was my favourite part even if it's right near the beginning because it told the audience who Sam was as a character rather than a replication of Kevin Flynn from Tron in just a few lines.  While he's appalled at what his father's company, ENCOM, has become because it no longer stands for what his father believed in, other than his annual prank on the company - which is some act of charity - he hasn't taken it upon himself to do anything about it and take his rightful position as CEO of ENCOM, something that is expected of him as the son of Kevin Flynn and has the potential for.  I loved this scene and especially when these lines were compared to Sam's final scene with Alan as it showed how much he had changed, from the rebellious youth to the more confident young man who is willing to accept the responsibility being passed down to him.

The film geek in me adores this solely because of the visual effects and the nerd in me loves it because I adore the original and the way they continued the story into this film through various media forms, including a video game and graphic novel.  While some don't like this film as it is very similar to Tron, some would say repetitive, and there is a lot of effects, this is what I love about it because it's how I imagine Tron would have looked in the present day if they had the means back in the 1970s/80s and overall, this is a very visual film with the stunning shots and fantastic effects that were achieved.  I recommend anyone to give this film or the original a chance because it is technologically beautiful and while predictable, I prefer Tron: Legacy because there is more of a plot with a son seeking his father and finding a purpose to his life.  I may be a part of the Tron cult and a visual effects nerd due to my uni days but this is a very enjoyable film as it has a good, while predictable, plot and great effects.

Related Films