It has been my most eagerly anticipated movie of the year and I’d have to say that TRON: Legacy has pretty much lived up to my expectations. The movie features somewhat the most breathtaking and immersive 3D action sequences and graphics that I’ve ever seen.
The movie begins with the disappearance of Kevin Flynn, an innovative software programmer who created the popular arcade game TRON, in the year 1989. Before he disappears, he tells the world that he’s working on "a digital frontier that will reshape the human condition.”
Kevin Flynn
Then, 20-odd years later in the present day, Kevin’s close friend, Alan Bradley, receives a message on his pager device from Kevin’s office. Alan gets hold of Sam Flynn, Kevin’s son, and tells him about the message.
Curious, Sam goes to his father’s office. And after a relatively slow start, the story takes off from there. Sam accidentally gets transported into the digital world of TRON, where he’s mistaken to be a computer program.
A 'light disc' duel
The underlying theme of this movie is how a son (Sam) sets out to rescue his father (Kevin) who gets trapped in his own creation. This shapes the course of the movie. Together, they must evade Clu 2, a computer program created by Kevin who turns on him. To know how the story ends, I’m afraid you’ve got to watch the movie for yourself.
For me, the best action in the movie takes place when Sam encounters spectacular one-on-one ‘light disc’ duels with numerous TRON programs. Apart from the ‘light disc’ duels, the ‘light cycle’ battles are also great.
The 'light cycle' battle
The one thing that I really loved about the movie was the blue and orange illuminated body suits. Everything else from the transport ships to the buildings were also illuminated in these two colours. Set against a dark backdrop, these colours really stood out.
I watched the movie in 3D, and I think to feel the full effect of the world of TRON one has to watch the movie in 3D. My friend watched it in the 2D format and he said that there was nothing particularly great about the movie.
One of the transport ships in the movie
The irony of it though is that during the first half-hour or so, before Sam gets transported into TRON, there’s not a single 3D effect. So, I removed my 3D glasses and just watched the movie like that, which was actually a good thing because it’s not all that comfortable to have to wear 3D glasses on top of regular glasses.
I’d say that the director, Joseph Kosinski, has done a relatively good job with the movie. Undoubtedly, the graphics and 3D effects are simply amazing, but I felt that the movie could do with a little more twist and turns as the net running time of the movie was a little less than two hours.
Quorra, the fearless TRON warrior
The film also features a stellar cast. Jeff Bridges plays the aged Kevin Flynn as well as the program Clu 2. Garrett Hedlund portrays the bold Sam Flynn while Olivia Wilde plays the role of Quorra, the only computer program who’s on the same side with Sam and his father. She’s also an adept warrior in the movie.
There were certain bits in the movie where I couldn’t put two and two together. Perhaps that’s because I hadn’t watched the original Tron movie which was released in 1982 prior to watching this one. However, I strongly do feel that there will be a sequel to TRON: Legacy because this movie didn’t seem quite finished.
Overall rating: 8.5/10 (Best movie of the year for me!)
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