Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 31, 2010
The Critic's Corner
“Tron: Legacy”
David Laprad
The existence of “Tron: Legacy” is miraculous. The original “Tron,” released in 1982, was a critical and box office bomb. The movie has acquired cult status among a group of hardcore fans, but warm geek love for an old movie that can only be found in tattered clamshell boxes in the “value” sections of video rental stores is hardly a compelling argument for spending $175 million on a sequel. Nevertheless, “Tron: Legacy” is showing in a theater just a few blocks from where I’m typing this column.
Unfortunately, the people at Disney who decided to make the movie only had one miracle at their disposal. Although visually stunning, “Tron: Legacy” is empty and pointless.
In the original “Tron,” a master computer program turns video game maker Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) into bits and bytes and drops him into a digital world, where he must compete for survival in a series of competitions. An imprisoned application named Tron helps Flynn to defeat the master program and escape back to the physical realm. The film’s remarkable computer-generated imagery made up for its rather murky storyline.
“Tron: Legacy” opens in 1989 with Flynn tucking his son, Sam, into bed. Flynn has become the CEO of a powerful computer applications company, but he’s been moonlighting on a secret project he claims will change the world. After kissing Sam goodnight, Flynn takes off on his Ducati, never to be seen again and leaving Sam in the care of his grandparents.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Sam is living a hermit-like existence, despite being the majority shareholder of his father’s company. When a family friend receives a page from Flynn’s old arcade, Sam goes to the abandoned building to see what’s going on. While there, he discovers a hidden room containing an old computer system that blinks to life when he sits down at its console. The next thing he knows, he’s been digitized and thrown into the world with the system.
While shocked, Sam survives an upgraded version of the disc battle seen in the original movie and is then summoned to appear before a program called Clu, which looks like a youthful Bridges. The technology the creators of “Tron: Legacy” used to scrub 30 years of wrinkles off Bridges’ face is generally impressive, though the illusion dissipates slightly when Clu talks.
Clu is locked in a battle with Flynn,who has been trapped in the digital world since he disappeared and is hoping to use Sam to draw his nemesis out of hiding. His plan is to steal Flynn’s Identity Disc, use it to create an army of warrior programs, and then enter the real world through the portal that brought Sam into the digital realm. Once there, Clu intends to eliminate all imperfection.
Or something like that. The plot is a mess. Clu and Flynn have poorly defined goals and motivations, and even contradict themselves from scene to scene. When Sam urges his dad to head toward the portal, Flynn refuses, saying that’s what Clu is expecting. Yet later, Flynn randomly suggests they make a run for the portal. Worse, clunky developments in the storyline seem designed to serve the moment rather than the overarching narrative. For example, a character introduced in the first movie is inexplicably evil in the sequel, but has a sudden and unconvincing change of heart in the middle of a battle.
Those are just minor irritations compared to the Saturday morning cartoon dialogue. Bridges must have been paid a lot of money to say lines like, “We were jammin’, man” and, “You’re messing up my Zen thing, Sam.” Actor Garrett Hedlund doesn’t have much to work with, either, other than cheesy one-liners.
That said, the writers were probably wise in keeping Hedlund’s lines short, as his acting is embarrassingly bad. I was mystified how anyone associated with the production of “Tron: Legacy” could have thought his performance was acceptable.
Another sore point is the expository nature of the dialogue. Instead of showing viewers what happens, director Joseph Kosinski has his actors stand around and explain everything to each other. As a result, the middle portion of the movie crawls along like a snail through wet cement.
The worst thing about “Tron: Legacy” is it has nothing to say. Flynn utters a few lines about the futility of the quest for perfection, but it’s just lip service. The world of “Tron” is rich with thematic potential, but the writers never tap into the deeper ideas they could have explored. A story about sentience or the nature of existence would have been more interesting than a ticked off computer program that wants to take over the world.
If you want to see “Tron: Legacy” for its visuals, you’ll probably enjoy the experience, especially if you’re able to see it in 3D. However, because the story lacks an emotional hook, the visuals feel as empty and pointless as the rest of the movie.
What an odd way to spend $175 million.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad @hamiltoncountyherald.com.
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