Tron: Legacy Review

Synopsis
Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), computer programmer and president of Encom, disappeared twenty years ago. When his son Sam (Gerret Hedlund) receives a mysterious message from his father’s old arcade, he finds himself transported to the Grid, a world inside the computer. With the help of Quorra (Olivia Wilde), Sam goes on a search for his father and a way to escape back into the real world.

Review
Tron is a cult favorite from the 1980s. It comes as no surprise that with the trend of bringing back old and favorite franchises, particularly over the last decade or so, that Tron would get its own sequel, nearly thirty years later. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original but I still understood its significance in cinema. In 2010, Tron: Legacy takes audiences back inside the computer with an updated look to match the updated times.

My biggest issue with Tron was the characters. There wasn’t much to them, or the story even, so I didn’t care much about Flynn, Tron, or Crom. This time around, I would say the characters are the strongest part about this film. From the beginning, we learn about Sam’s close relationship with his father and he how distraught he is when his father disappears. As the film goes on, we learn more about their relationship and them individually. Their relationship is fleshed out. By the end of the film, I cared more about either them than I did any of the characters from the previous film.

The costumes from Tron were pretty interesting, with lines running along the outfits differently and in random patterns for each character. This design element is brought back for Tron: Legacy but better realized than it was before. The rotoscopic techniques used in Tron to add the color were distracting and not very crisp. With today’s computer imaging technology, the lines are sharp, creating an effect that is probably more in-line of what Lisberger imagined in 1982. Although the scenes set inside the computer are in color as opposed to the black-and-white of Tron, they do have a gray tone to them that gives it a similar feel without becoming distracting.

When Sam first enters the Grid, he is taken immediately to the Games, an arena reminiscent of what was seen in the previous film. This creates a lot of confusion for both Sam and the audience. I liked this feeling because I didn’t get all the information right away. I was trying to figure things out, just as I’m sure Sam was, and it had me excited. The film gave a burst of excitement before getting to the characterization scenes between Sam and his father. And it gave a glimpse that this was the same world as before but updated, just like an actual computer would be.

For a film called Tron, there is an obvious lack of the character in the film. Hints are dropped throughout the movie as to where he is (and eagle-eyed fans might figure it out based on some visual clues). However, when Tron is finally revealed, it felt anticlimactic. Given his history with Kevin Flynn, I was expecting more. I’ll just leave it at that because going into it any more would wonder into spoiler territory.

De-aging in film has been happening longer than I have realized. I knew it has been used to some effect before, such as in films like X3: The Last Stand and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but I didn’t think it wasn’t until more recently that it was used to the degree it was used here. A de-aged Jeff Bridges is used for Clu (since most programs in the Tron universe resemble their programmer) back in 2010. Flash forward six years and the process is used again to resurrect Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I mentioned in my review of that that the effect looks great except for when Tarkin talks. Now knowing this de-aging effect has been around since at least 2010, it is a little more disappointing that this is a problem in Rogue One because that is the same flaw in this film. There is something off with Bridges’ mouth as Clu when he speaks and it removed me from the film.

I thought Tron: Legacy was GOOD 🙂 It fixes the biggest reason I didn’t like the previous film: the characters. They actually get some development this time. There are plenty of Easter eggs and homages to the original classic. Although it doesn’t push the boundaries of CGI and animation as much as Tron did in the early eighties, it looks visually remarkable and has some impressive de-aging, albeit with some imperfections. Tron: Legacy is a worthy legacy of such a popular cult classic as Tron.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Joseph Kosinski – Director
Edward Kitsis – Screenplay / Story
Adam Horowitz – Screenplay / Story
Brian Klugman – Story
Lee Sternthal – Story
Daft Punk – Music

Garret Hedlund – Sam Flynn
Jeff Bridges – Kevin Flynn / Clu
Olivia Wilde – Quorra
Bruce Boxleitner – Alan Bradley / Tron
James Frain – Jarvis
Beau Garrett – Gem
Michael Sheen – Castor / Zuse
Anis Cheurfa – Rinzler

If you are interested in participating in the Ultimate 90s Blogathon, hosted by Kim from Tranquil Dreams and myself, you can find all the information here.

Lightning Review: The Next Three Days

Synopsis
John Brennan (Russell Crowe) is a community college professor who has been a single dad after his wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks), was convicted of murder. For the past three years, he has been planning a way to break out his wife from prison. When his wife unexpectedly gets transferred to a maximum security prison, he has three days to execute his plan.

Review
When I think of The Next Three Days, I like to think of it as very similar to a heist movie. Rather than stealing jewels or money from a vault, Russell Crowe is stealing his wife from prison. Seventy-five percent of the movie sees John Brennan, Crowe’s character, formulating a plan to break his wife out of prison. This is my favorite part of heist movies, seeing how the character scopes out his target, performs recon, and formulates his plan. It tends to be slow and tedious, and this film is no exception to that, but the payout is worth the buildup. I also enjoy how the movie didn’t reveal what happened that caused Lara (Elizabeth Banks) to get charged with murder until the very end. Plus it didn’t say outright whether she was guilty or innocent until the last few minutes. This helped create some tension during the slower first two acts.

There was a short scene where John was talking to his class about the book Don Quixote and the title character’s perceived reality around him. John’s lesson paralleled what he was experiencing with his wife’s imprisonment and was fun to see how the same lessons he was teaching could be applied to him. Russell Crowe has proven time and time again he can do drama, but I was a little surprised by Elizabeth Banks. I don’t remember seeing her in many dramas. She’s more of a comedy actress to me, but she nails it. The Next Three Days is a movie about a jailbreak but feels like a heist movie at heart. The pace may not be for everyone, but if you can muster through to the end, the payoff is worth it.

Rating
4/5

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Paul Higgis – Director / Screenplay
Fred Cavayé – Screenplay (“Pour elle”)
Guillaume Lemans – Sceenplay (“Pour elle”)

Russell Crowe – John Brennan
Elizabeth Banks – Lara Brennan
Michael Buie – Mick Brennan
Ty Simpkins – Luke
Jason Beghe – Detective Quinn
Aisha Hinds – Detective Collero
Olivia Wilde – Nicole
Remy Nozik – Jenna
Kaitlyn Wilde – Julie
Toby Green – Three Year Old Luke
Tyler Green – Three Year Old Luke
Liam Neeson – Damon Pennington