SusannahTRON: LEGACY
December 27th 2010 01:40
TRON: Legacy (2010)
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen, James Frain.
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski.
TRON: Legacy has faced criticism for not having a plot, but it is not so much that it does not have one, but rather that the plot of TRON: Legacy is very similar to that of the first film, TRON: young man goes into the grid world of the computer and must escape it before he becomes trapped there forever. This time, the young man is Sam, son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who was the young man trapped in the grid in the first film, TRON. The Tron of the title is a computer programme created by Kevin Flynn and Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) who appears in Alan’s image, and who helped Kevin escape the grid the first time around.
In TRON: Legacy Sam has been on his own since Kevin mysteriously disappeared, right on the eve of his discovering something that would change the world, leaving his son the major shareholder in his corporation. Sam chooses not to run his father’s company, ENCOM, and instead plays a practical joke on the company each year. Sam is lured into the grid when Alan tells him he received a page from Flynn that was sent from Flynn’s old arcade.
For the first 15 minutes of the film you are desperate for Sam to get into the grid because you really want to see how the special effects have been done. Once inside the grid the effects do not disappoint. Sam is issued with a disc and taken straight to the games where he ends up in a fairly tense disc throwing fight with other programmes. Here he meets Clu, who he mistakes for his father, as Clu has been created in Flynn’s image. As Clu the filmmakers have made Jeff Bridges look young again for his digital self. This is also used for the young Kevin Flynn in flashback, and at the start of the film. The effect is fairly convincing, although there is a little bit of dead-eye which is noticeable when Flynn and Clu share scenes together. The young Clu looks distinctly less alive than the real and aged Jeff Bridges. However, Clu is a computer programme, rather than a real person, so you could argue that he does not need to look fully alive.
Clu is in charge of the grid, and has been turning it into a gradually more fascist, dystopian state, in the name of the perfect world he was charged with creating upon his creation by Flynn. Everything in the grid that is run by Clu is helpfully coloured red and orange, which changes to blue when controlled by Sam or Flynn. Clu challenges Sam to an exciting light cycle race (with orange and blue light trails). Sam is rescued from the race by Quorra (Olivia Wilde) a computer programme who lives with his real father, Flynn, who has been trapped in the grid since he disappeared.
The real heart of TRON: Legacy is the relationship between fathers and sons, and between that of creator and the created. Sam comes to see what his father, Kevin, has made possible in the world of the grid, and how he did not choose to leave his son, but was forced to. They are able to reconcile and come to know each other. Meanwhile Clu, who has literally been made in his creator’s own image, is unable to bear his creator’s disappointment in the world he has made in the grid, when it is what he was literally programmed to do. It is humanity’s ultimate fear of facing your creator, having lived your life according to what you thought they wanted, only to receive their disapproval instead of their approbation. It turns out that the older Kevin Flynn has become more zen while in the grid (Bridges channelling The Dude), having had time to reflect on the error of his ways. He knows that it is his fault, not Clu’s, that the world of the grid has become a dystopia; that it is Clu’s programming that is flawed. The perfect world is not in fact possible. Things are perfect, and imperfect at the same time, as the older and wiser Flynn has realised. So the real issue lies not with Sam and Flynn, but between Flynn and Clu, providing a parable for humanity and God.
Overall TRON: Legacy is pretty good. The acting is consistent, with newcomer Garrett Hedlund providing adequate lead material (oddly reminiscent of Supernatural’s Dean as played by Jensen Ackles). Bridges is his usual strong self in the dual roles of Clu and Flynn. Olivia Wilde is an appealing presence as the Jules Verne enthusiast programme Quorra. Michael Sheen provides a dynamic turn as nightclub running programme Castor, while James Frain provides strong (and unrecognisable) support as Clu’s loyal programme Jarvis. The effects are dazzling and keep the retro stylings of the original film. The soundtrack is completely badass, provided by techno duo Daft Punk, who also appear in the film as computer programme DJs. TRON: Legacy provides an exciting follow-up to the original TRON, and does continue the original’s legacy.
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Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen, James Frain.
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski.
TRON: Legacy has faced criticism for not having a plot, but it is not so much that it does not have one, but rather that the plot of TRON: Legacy is very similar to that of the first film, TRON: young man goes into the grid world of the computer and must escape it before he becomes trapped there forever. This time, the young man is Sam, son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who was the young man trapped in the grid in the first film, TRON. The Tron of the title is a computer programme created by Kevin Flynn and Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) who appears in Alan’s image, and who helped Kevin escape the grid the first time around.
Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy
In TRON: Legacy Sam has been on his own since Kevin mysteriously disappeared, right on the eve of his discovering something that would change the world, leaving his son the major shareholder in his corporation. Sam chooses not to run his father’s company, ENCOM, and instead plays a practical joke on the company each year. Sam is lured into the grid when Alan tells him he received a page from Flynn that was sent from Flynn’s old arcade.
For the first 15 minutes of the film you are desperate for Sam to get into the grid because you really want to see how the special effects have been done. Once inside the grid the effects do not disappoint. Sam is issued with a disc and taken straight to the games where he ends up in a fairly tense disc throwing fight with other programmes. Here he meets Clu, who he mistakes for his father, as Clu has been created in Flynn’s image. As Clu the filmmakers have made Jeff Bridges look young again for his digital self. This is also used for the young Kevin Flynn in flashback, and at the start of the film. The effect is fairly convincing, although there is a little bit of dead-eye which is noticeable when Flynn and Clu share scenes together. The young Clu looks distinctly less alive than the real and aged Jeff Bridges. However, Clu is a computer programme, rather than a real person, so you could argue that he does not need to look fully alive.
Jeff Bridges as Clu
Clu is in charge of the grid, and has been turning it into a gradually more fascist, dystopian state, in the name of the perfect world he was charged with creating upon his creation by Flynn. Everything in the grid that is run by Clu is helpfully coloured red and orange, which changes to blue when controlled by Sam or Flynn. Clu challenges Sam to an exciting light cycle race (with orange and blue light trails). Sam is rescued from the race by Quorra (Olivia Wilde) a computer programme who lives with his real father, Flynn, who has been trapped in the grid since he disappeared.
Light Cycle
The real heart of TRON: Legacy is the relationship between fathers and sons, and between that of creator and the created. Sam comes to see what his father, Kevin, has made possible in the world of the grid, and how he did not choose to leave his son, but was forced to. They are able to reconcile and come to know each other. Meanwhile Clu, who has literally been made in his creator’s own image, is unable to bear his creator’s disappointment in the world he has made in the grid, when it is what he was literally programmed to do. It is humanity’s ultimate fear of facing your creator, having lived your life according to what you thought they wanted, only to receive their disapproval instead of their approbation. It turns out that the older Kevin Flynn has become more zen while in the grid (Bridges channelling The Dude), having had time to reflect on the error of his ways. He knows that it is his fault, not Clu’s, that the world of the grid has become a dystopia; that it is Clu’s programming that is flawed. The perfect world is not in fact possible. Things are perfect, and imperfect at the same time, as the older and wiser Flynn has realised. So the real issue lies not with Sam and Flynn, but between Flynn and Clu, providing a parable for humanity and God.
Olivia Wilde as Quorra
Overall TRON: Legacy is pretty good. The acting is consistent, with newcomer Garrett Hedlund providing adequate lead material (oddly reminiscent of Supernatural’s Dean as played by Jensen Ackles). Bridges is his usual strong self in the dual roles of Clu and Flynn. Olivia Wilde is an appealing presence as the Jules Verne enthusiast programme Quorra. Michael Sheen provides a dynamic turn as nightclub running programme Castor, while James Frain provides strong (and unrecognisable) support as Clu’s loyal programme Jarvis. The effects are dazzling and keep the retro stylings of the original film. The soundtrack is completely badass, provided by techno duo Daft Punk, who also appear in the film as computer programme DJs. TRON: Legacy provides an exciting follow-up to the original TRON, and does continue the original’s legacy.
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