
TRON: LEGACY (REVIEW)
Jeff
Bridges, Olivia Wilde, Garrett Hedlund, Elizabeth Mathis, Bruce Boxleitner
Rated
PG - 127 mins
Belated follow up to the groundbreaking, now
cult 1982 Disney film, 'Tron'. The son of the original protagonist enters a competitive
video game world known as 'The Grid' in search of his long lost father. Light
cycles and disc duels are only the beginning in this remarkable visual film that
jolts your senses. Forget the plot, it's ordinary.
Boy lives
a quiet life out of the limelight but still partly owning his missing father Flynn's
digital empire. A video game king and techno innovator in the '80s, he is now
stuck within 'The Grid' and under false pretences, in goes young Flynn to the
computer world. Almost instantly, he is entered into a series of life and death
battles, but soon becomes picked out as different. Now known as a user, as his
dad once was, Young Flynn is approached by a mystery person who leads him back
to his now much older former parent, again played by Jeff Bridges.
Not
only are the effects cutting edge, the musical soundtrack by duo Daft Punk, is
equally outstanding. A breakthrough in technical sound scapes, this score sits
beside 'Inception' as one of the best original arrangements to accompany a film
all year.
Garrett Hedlund is pretty good as the young user in the glowing neon
world, his deep voice and strong look in the body armour suits the character.
A
little more off beat is Olivia Wilde as his new friend, his father's apprentice
and fellow rebel. She looks beautiful but has too little screen time. I needed
her to be more imposing to make any headway. 2010 Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, on
the other hand, in both young (digitally aged younger) and older versions, is
ever reliable and seems to be mixing up serious dialogue with silly slang. It's
Bridges so it works.
A strong vision helps any film, however
thanks to a really poor script, the overall effect of 'Tron: Legacy' leaves you
feeling a little hollow towards the end. The new light cycles are the bomb though.
Shane
A. Bassett