In the first 10 minutes of "Tron: Legacy," the audience gets a quick briefing of what happened in the original film. By quick briefing, I mean we get the basic overview of what happened to Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and when he disappeared. The film then flashes to present time where we meet Kevin's son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) who we learn is now 28 years old and still isn't over his father's disappearance. After his yearly prank on his fathers company Encom, Sam gets visited by one of his fathers old friends Alan (Bruce Boxleitner) who informs Sam that he has received a message from his father coming from the Flynn Arcade. After some convincing on Alan's part, Sam makes his way over to the arcade only to find a secret room hidden behind the Tron arcade game that could be a portal to his father. A visually stunning film ensues....
For the 45 to 60 minutes of the film, I was extremely involved with "Tron: Legacy." It was interesting, amazing to look at, and the story was good enough to hold one's interest. Then all of a sudden I found myself bored with the film. The story started feeling a little limp and I didn't really care all that much about the characters either. The film started going downhill when Quorra (Olivia Wilde) came into the picture, not saying that she was a bad character because she probably was one of my favorites, but this is when the story started to drag.
On top of the lack of details (poor character development and character background), the emotional attachment between Sam and Kevin seemed to be missing. At first, I didn't know whether to blame Bridges and Hedlund for that or Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis for not having a stronger screenplay. But after a few moments of debate, I would honestly have to blame the screenwriters because they are the ones who didn't dig deeper into these characters. The script didn't give them a whole lot of background so they were only working with what they had and they did try their best. The story also wasn't that interesting after a while, it's like OK he's here to save his dad, I get it but what else? Don't even get me started on the lack of back story on the actual Tron character. They just left that wide open with very little explanation.
As for the high points of "Tron: Legacy" well that goes right to the visual effects. The movie looks absolutely stunning. The set designs are amazing, the uniforms are awesome, and the whole entire grid looks brilliant. The design of the grid itself was also believable. You truly believe that this is what the inside of a computer looks like. I give everyone who was involved with the visual elements of the film major kudos points and that includes director Joseph Kosinski, who really captured the visual aspect of the film.
Besides the visual aspect of the film, the music is the film is also amazing. The score was by Daft Punk who has been getting nothing but phrase for their music. I have to agree with everyone else because the music really made the film. I think it was one of the strongest elements of both the trailer and the film itself. Besides, the music and visuals, there is a really amazing scene where Sam enters into a club, which is extremely well shot and visually appealing. The race scenes are pretty sweet and the background recap in the beginning is also well done.
The acting is decent, nothing great but not bad. It's typical action/family film acting all around. When Bridges plays Kevin Flynn he mixes his character from the original Tron in with The Dude from "The Big Lebowski." When Bridges plays Clu, who is the bad guy in the film, he actually does this extremely well. I think Bridges had much more to work with playing Clu than with Kevin to be fair. He did a good job with both though overall. Olivia Wilde is good in the film, not to mention easy on the eyes. Her character was simple and she played it off well. Garrett Hedlund, who played Sam, was decent in the film. He was probably the weakest of all the acting but than again he isn't as established of an actor as the rest of them. Also even though he wasn't in the film much, I have to give props to Michael Sheen, who was just wacky and crazy in the film. His character was by far the most interesting because he was so odd.
In the end, "Tron: Legacy" was a a unique movie experience. It was visually appealing with some decent scenes and a killer soundtrack. The problem, however, was what I call the "Avatar" effect. It was amazing to look at but when it came down to the end, it could have been a lot better with a more solid story. Like "Avatar" the film lacked a complex story as well as great character development. It just wasn't as interesting as it should have been. It didn't hold my interest after I got past how cool it looked. I still would recommend the film, however, I just wouldn't give it as high of marks as I would have liked and that in itself is a shame because the film definitely had the potential to be something great! MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Tron: Legacy" is a 7 out of 10.
For the 45 to 60 minutes of the film, I was extremely involved with "Tron: Legacy." It was interesting, amazing to look at, and the story was good enough to hold one's interest. Then all of a sudden I found myself bored with the film. The story started feeling a little limp and I didn't really care all that much about the characters either. The film started going downhill when Quorra (Olivia Wilde) came into the picture, not saying that she was a bad character because she probably was one of my favorites, but this is when the story started to drag.
On top of the lack of details (poor character development and character background), the emotional attachment between Sam and Kevin seemed to be missing. At first, I didn't know whether to blame Bridges and Hedlund for that or Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis for not having a stronger screenplay. But after a few moments of debate, I would honestly have to blame the screenwriters because they are the ones who didn't dig deeper into these characters. The script didn't give them a whole lot of background so they were only working with what they had and they did try their best. The story also wasn't that interesting after a while, it's like OK he's here to save his dad, I get it but what else? Don't even get me started on the lack of back story on the actual Tron character. They just left that wide open with very little explanation.
As for the high points of "Tron: Legacy" well that goes right to the visual effects. The movie looks absolutely stunning. The set designs are amazing, the uniforms are awesome, and the whole entire grid looks brilliant. The design of the grid itself was also believable. You truly believe that this is what the inside of a computer looks like. I give everyone who was involved with the visual elements of the film major kudos points and that includes director Joseph Kosinski, who really captured the visual aspect of the film.
Besides the visual aspect of the film, the music is the film is also amazing. The score was by Daft Punk who has been getting nothing but phrase for their music. I have to agree with everyone else because the music really made the film. I think it was one of the strongest elements of both the trailer and the film itself. Besides, the music and visuals, there is a really amazing scene where Sam enters into a club, which is extremely well shot and visually appealing. The race scenes are pretty sweet and the background recap in the beginning is also well done.
The acting is decent, nothing great but not bad. It's typical action/family film acting all around. When Bridges plays Kevin Flynn he mixes his character from the original Tron in with The Dude from "The Big Lebowski." When Bridges plays Clu, who is the bad guy in the film, he actually does this extremely well. I think Bridges had much more to work with playing Clu than with Kevin to be fair. He did a good job with both though overall. Olivia Wilde is good in the film, not to mention easy on the eyes. Her character was simple and she played it off well. Garrett Hedlund, who played Sam, was decent in the film. He was probably the weakest of all the acting but than again he isn't as established of an actor as the rest of them. Also even though he wasn't in the film much, I have to give props to Michael Sheen, who was just wacky and crazy in the film. His character was by far the most interesting because he was so odd.
In the end, "Tron: Legacy" was a a unique movie experience. It was visually appealing with some decent scenes and a killer soundtrack. The problem, however, was what I call the "Avatar" effect. It was amazing to look at but when it came down to the end, it could have been a lot better with a more solid story. Like "Avatar" the film lacked a complex story as well as great character development. It just wasn't as interesting as it should have been. It didn't hold my interest after I got past how cool it looked. I still would recommend the film, however, I just wouldn't give it as high of marks as I would have liked and that in itself is a shame because the film definitely had the potential to be something great! MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Tron: Legacy" is a 7 out of 10.