Tron: Legacy
Year: 2010
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund & Olivia Wilde
Runtime: 125 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 29/04/22
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund & Olivia Wilde
Runtime: 125 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 29/04/22
Twenty-eight years is a long time to wait for anything but that’s exactly what happened for fans of Disney’s 1982 special effects powerhouse, Tron. Whilst the film was heavily criticised for its inaccessibly complex story, Tron built a dedicated fanbase for whom a drip feed of comic books and video games were created over the years, none of which were particularly substantial. It took until 2005 for Disney to decide to give a big screen sequel a proper go, which itself didn’t see the light of day until 2010. Like its predecessor, Tron: Legacy was not a perfect film, but what it tried to do for the franchise in a post-Matrix world I would argue was beyond all expectations.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) has spent the last twenty years searching for answers about his father’s sudden disappearance. The only clues as to what happened to acclaimed software developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) are that his business partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) claimed that Kevin had found the next great evolutionary leap for mankind.
Following supposed communication from Kevin, Sam investigates his father’s old arcade as is transported into the digital world of The Grid; a place of his father’s creation based upon his best-selling videogames Tron, and Space Paranoids.
Whilst Sam learns more about The Grid, he comes to understand that his father has been trapped inside The Grid for twenty years, unable to leave, because a program of his own creation Clu (a digitally de-aged Bridges) has gone rogue and rules The Grid with an iron fist.
With the help of a program named Quorra (Olivia Wilde), Sam and Kevin must travel across The Grid in the hopes of being able to escape back into the real world; but Clu who is hot on their tail also wants out of The Grid, with his sights set on reshaping Earth to his liking.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) has spent the last twenty years searching for answers about his father’s sudden disappearance. The only clues as to what happened to acclaimed software developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) are that his business partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) claimed that Kevin had found the next great evolutionary leap for mankind.
Following supposed communication from Kevin, Sam investigates his father’s old arcade as is transported into the digital world of The Grid; a place of his father’s creation based upon his best-selling videogames Tron, and Space Paranoids.
Whilst Sam learns more about The Grid, he comes to understand that his father has been trapped inside The Grid for twenty years, unable to leave, because a program of his own creation Clu (a digitally de-aged Bridges) has gone rogue and rules The Grid with an iron fist.
With the help of a program named Quorra (Olivia Wilde), Sam and Kevin must travel across The Grid in the hopes of being able to escape back into the real world; but Clu who is hot on their tail also wants out of The Grid, with his sights set on reshaping Earth to his liking.
The plot was by far the biggest problem the original Tron faced due to its convoluted story and insistence on using technical jargon like it was going out of fashion. Around the time of its release most people had never used a computer before, let alone understand half of the dialogue that was being thrown around that would even confuse many reasonably tech savvy people today.
Thankfully Tron: Legacy does not stumble that this same hurdle and instead presents things in much clearer terms. There definitely is a little bit of techno-babble here and there, but they are usually terms that most computer users would have a basic understanding of, and the terms are usually used in contexts where they’re clearly communicated what they mean.
Unfortunately, what holds Tron: Legacy’s story back this time is that it bites off more than it can chew and feels relatively by the numbers. There’s so much time spent on worldbuilding and explaining how things work that the characters and their development is put on the backburner. I don’t feel like I got to know Sam, once he finds his dad that’s kind of it for him, we don’t get any more info about who he is or what he wants, and that’s less than halfway through the film when the two are reunited. Kevin is equally given no development, all he wants to do is get out of The Grid, and the only real explanation we get about what happened in the twenty years he was gone is just more worldbuilding (I mean he is basically God in The Grid so that kind of makes sense, but the focus is clearly on making the world more interesting and not the characters). Quorra’s character development happens way too late into the film for it to be meaningful, and again the only thing she desires is to understand what the sun is, so much like the other two main characters she’s a pretty blank slate.
Clu gets more development than any other character in the film, but it’s still not enough. The reason why he ends up going rogue is all pinned down to Kevin not being precise enough in his wording when creating Clu. It’s a misunderstanding is all, and because Clu is a machine unable to think for himself and understand Kevin’s actual instructions, he takes things extremely literally.
I sound like I’m bashing the story a lot and I don’t mean to, but the characters are kind of secondary to everything else. Because there’s so much effort put into explaining how this world works and how it was created, The Grid is the best character in the film. I want to spend more time there and learn more about it. There are some interesting side characters that crop up in the film like Martin Sheen’s Zuse, but they aren’t in the film for long enough or serve a big enough role in Sam’s story to spend any more time on. The Grid is a fascinating world and that’s the main reason I’d love to see Tron return in the future, just so I can soak in more of the lore this place has to offer.
Thankfully Tron: Legacy does not stumble that this same hurdle and instead presents things in much clearer terms. There definitely is a little bit of techno-babble here and there, but they are usually terms that most computer users would have a basic understanding of, and the terms are usually used in contexts where they’re clearly communicated what they mean.
Unfortunately, what holds Tron: Legacy’s story back this time is that it bites off more than it can chew and feels relatively by the numbers. There’s so much time spent on worldbuilding and explaining how things work that the characters and their development is put on the backburner. I don’t feel like I got to know Sam, once he finds his dad that’s kind of it for him, we don’t get any more info about who he is or what he wants, and that’s less than halfway through the film when the two are reunited. Kevin is equally given no development, all he wants to do is get out of The Grid, and the only real explanation we get about what happened in the twenty years he was gone is just more worldbuilding (I mean he is basically God in The Grid so that kind of makes sense, but the focus is clearly on making the world more interesting and not the characters). Quorra’s character development happens way too late into the film for it to be meaningful, and again the only thing she desires is to understand what the sun is, so much like the other two main characters she’s a pretty blank slate.
Clu gets more development than any other character in the film, but it’s still not enough. The reason why he ends up going rogue is all pinned down to Kevin not being precise enough in his wording when creating Clu. It’s a misunderstanding is all, and because Clu is a machine unable to think for himself and understand Kevin’s actual instructions, he takes things extremely literally.
I sound like I’m bashing the story a lot and I don’t mean to, but the characters are kind of secondary to everything else. Because there’s so much effort put into explaining how this world works and how it was created, The Grid is the best character in the film. I want to spend more time there and learn more about it. There are some interesting side characters that crop up in the film like Martin Sheen’s Zuse, but they aren’t in the film for long enough or serve a big enough role in Sam’s story to spend any more time on. The Grid is a fascinating world and that’s the main reason I’d love to see Tron return in the future, just so I can soak in more of the lore this place has to offer.
The real draw of Tron: Legacy, much like its predecessor, are the ground-breaking special effects. Again, like the original, Tron: Legacy can look a little dated by today’s standards. But it features one of the first major applications of de-aging technology. Jeff Bridges plays both Kevin and Clu, but Clu appears similar to how Bridges looked in the eighties. I remember seeing the effect in 2010 and whilst it certainly looked a little iffy at times, it was incredible to see an actor travel back in time before my very eyes. Now though the effect is extremely rubbery and unrealistic, but credit where it’s due the effect looked pretty good when the film released a decade ago.
Tron: Legacy has an incredible art direction and unique visual design. Most of the film takes place within The Grid, where everything is a mix of shiny black surfaces and neon lights. It looks gorgeous, and thanks to some good cinematography from Claudio Miranda the film is a real treat visually. The CGI used here blends seamlessly with the art design so it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what isn’t at times, with it hitting the right balance between a digital fantasy and striking reality.
The fantastic visuals combined with one of my all-time favourite film scores composed by Daft Punk makes Tron: Legacy the perfect film to watch in a dark room with the volume up high. They complement each other so well and make the film completely mesmerising.
Whilst a third Tron film is apparently in development, having been officially announced by Disney in 2020, that fact that this third film started development in the immediate aftermath of Legacy means either one of two things. The first is that nobody knows where to take the property next, indicating the wrong creatives are being put onto the project; or the second (which I feel is more likely) is that Disney don’t have faith in the project. Considering it took over two decades for Legacy to get the greenlight because Disney didn’t care indicates to me that Tron is unfortunately a series that is set to stay stagnant for as long as Disney can keep making excuses. A true shame as in the right hands this franchise could be something incredible.
If you’re yet to watch Tron: Legacy I highly advise it. Though the characters are forgettable the world is anything but; with eye popping visuals that will sear themselves into your brain and a thumping soundtrack to get your blood rushing, Tron: Legacy is a good time for anyone seeking a thrilling family adventure.
Tron: Legacy has an incredible art direction and unique visual design. Most of the film takes place within The Grid, where everything is a mix of shiny black surfaces and neon lights. It looks gorgeous, and thanks to some good cinematography from Claudio Miranda the film is a real treat visually. The CGI used here blends seamlessly with the art design so it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what isn’t at times, with it hitting the right balance between a digital fantasy and striking reality.
The fantastic visuals combined with one of my all-time favourite film scores composed by Daft Punk makes Tron: Legacy the perfect film to watch in a dark room with the volume up high. They complement each other so well and make the film completely mesmerising.
Whilst a third Tron film is apparently in development, having been officially announced by Disney in 2020, that fact that this third film started development in the immediate aftermath of Legacy means either one of two things. The first is that nobody knows where to take the property next, indicating the wrong creatives are being put onto the project; or the second (which I feel is more likely) is that Disney don’t have faith in the project. Considering it took over two decades for Legacy to get the greenlight because Disney didn’t care indicates to me that Tron is unfortunately a series that is set to stay stagnant for as long as Disney can keep making excuses. A true shame as in the right hands this franchise could be something incredible.
If you’re yet to watch Tron: Legacy I highly advise it. Though the characters are forgettable the world is anything but; with eye popping visuals that will sear themselves into your brain and a thumping soundtrack to get your blood rushing, Tron: Legacy is a good time for anyone seeking a thrilling family adventure.