Review of TRON: Legacy (2010) by Rebecca_87 — 20 Dec 2010

How can anybody not like this movie? If your argument is that it failed the original, revise your argument. This affectionate sequel paid sincere homage to its ground-breaking 80s predecessor, without being spoofy. It was clearly made with love by a director who is a much a fan of the original Tron as Chuck Bartowski is. The 3D is neither gimmicky or showy but serves to pull in the audience like they have been affected by the laser as well. This is complemented by the forwards/ backwards movement in the movie which made the whole thing feel like a fairground ride. Daft Punk's soundtrack was quite simply AWESOME. The electro sound adds to the cleaned-up 80s feel of the movie and it is just so fantastically LOUD that it contributes beautifully to the immersive and disorienting experience. It isn't just the soundtrack itself that makes the movie a musical feast: Kosinski uses sound wonderfully to frame each movement, scene and mood-change that the movie is reminiscent of his very clever commercials and game trailers. it becomes very clear how he landed this gig. I'm thinking in particular of the moment, in the club/ fight scene where Flynn appears looking like a scary Dalai Lama/ Santa Claus accompanied by a cacophony of spine-tingling techno magic. You have to see it! There are not enough good words to describe Jeff Bridge's performance as the now world (and grid) weary hacker Kevin Flynn so I will plump for these stellar and so so cool. Relative newcomer Garrett Hedlund is an excellent young protagonist. I expected him to somewhat irritating (like Hayden Christensen in Attack of the Clones) but he wasn't and brought a Mark Hamil-esque quality to the piece. I have heard so much criticism of the CG which brought CLU, Flynn's creation-turned-nemesis, to life. The criticism was that compared to the surrounding characters it didn't look quite right. These people seem to be forgetting that they are comparing CG to REAL PEOPLE. Any graphics that are not quite as good as flesh as blood must be pretty good really. Remember how awesome we all thought Beowulf was.....

The overall feel of the movie is irrefutably polished and exciting. It made feel like an 11 year boy (which is an achievement as I'm a woman, so have never been one. ) Those who feel the story should have been more complex should remember this film was brought to you by Disney, the studio responsible for Pirates of Caribbean and Snow White. Any critics who feel that it didn't live up to the original should probably go watch the original again.