I am going to try my best to not turn my review of TRON: Legacy into my desperate pitch for the next movie to be the backstory on Michael Sheen’s character. Because, seriously, there is TRON: Legacy and then there are the couple of minutes when Michael Sheen is onscreen. I was happy with Part A but Part B could have been a movie worth the price of 3D admission.
Yeah about that last thing I typed, no movie is worth the price of 3D admission. Fuck that. But I will say that of all the 3D movies I’ve seen since Avatar, TRON: Legacy was the least offensive. Of all the cheap money grabs, at least TRON is full of bright lights and crazy ass 1980s ideas of what happens inside a computer. And they definitely took full advantage of the 3D technology during the light cycle chases/crashes and those bizarre disc battles. Still, 3D is an unnecessary extra that barely adds anything to a movie.
So, I guess we are now smack dab in the middle of the Jeff Bridges renaissance. Due to the box-office failure of the original TRON, it feels like they waited until the best possible moment to put Jeff Bridges’ name on the poster to sell tickets. Not only that, but it wasn’t the 3D effects that were the big CGI highlight, it was having today’s Bridges acting against a de-aged Bridges who looked like he did in the original movie. Fully CGI people still look a bit shiny but this wasn’t all that bad. And once the younger version was inside the machine, it kind of made sense to look slightly computery. Garrett Hedlund reappears on the scene as Jeff Bridges son. I guess Troy is far enough in the past that he deserves another chance at the blockbuster pie. Because Olivia Wilde is insanely hot, she gets to transition from House to movies before the rest of the cast. That seems ... fair … but damn she is hot. We do get the return of Tron, which meant the return of Bruce Boxleitner. Good for him. And that leaves Michael Sheen. No matter what the movie, he never disappoints. This time around he transforms himself into the computerized version of David Bowie or some equally flamboyant rock star. He definitely plays on my love of canes and random dancing. I thank him for that.
Damn … TRON: Legacy is pretty. That stupid Star Trek holodeck world that looked ridiculous 25 years ago, now is an amazing computer generated reality that belongs on a movie screen. Whether or not that world makes sense … thats not the point. But why would a computer program be a drunk hobo in an alley? And if a male computer program and a female computer program have sex is that how new computer programs are made? There is a wasteland inside a computer where programs can't enter? And what the hell has Kevin Flynn been eating for the last 25 years to stay alive? Were these questions answered in the original movie because I swear I tried to watch it again but couldn’t find it.
Yeah about that last thing I typed, no movie is worth the price of 3D admission. Fuck that. But I will say that of all the 3D movies I’ve seen since Avatar, TRON: Legacy was the least offensive. Of all the cheap money grabs, at least TRON is full of bright lights and crazy ass 1980s ideas of what happens inside a computer. And they definitely took full advantage of the 3D technology during the light cycle chases/crashes and those bizarre disc battles. Still, 3D is an unnecessary extra that barely adds anything to a movie.
So, I guess we are now smack dab in the middle of the Jeff Bridges renaissance. Due to the box-office failure of the original TRON, it feels like they waited until the best possible moment to put Jeff Bridges’ name on the poster to sell tickets. Not only that, but it wasn’t the 3D effects that were the big CGI highlight, it was having today’s Bridges acting against a de-aged Bridges who looked like he did in the original movie. Fully CGI people still look a bit shiny but this wasn’t all that bad. And once the younger version was inside the machine, it kind of made sense to look slightly computery. Garrett Hedlund reappears on the scene as Jeff Bridges son. I guess Troy is far enough in the past that he deserves another chance at the blockbuster pie. Because Olivia Wilde is insanely hot, she gets to transition from House to movies before the rest of the cast. That seems ... fair … but damn she is hot. We do get the return of Tron, which meant the return of Bruce Boxleitner. Good for him. And that leaves Michael Sheen. No matter what the movie, he never disappoints. This time around he transforms himself into the computerized version of David Bowie or some equally flamboyant rock star. He definitely plays on my love of canes and random dancing. I thank him for that.
Damn … TRON: Legacy is pretty. That stupid Star Trek holodeck world that looked ridiculous 25 years ago, now is an amazing computer generated reality that belongs on a movie screen. Whether or not that world makes sense … thats not the point. But why would a computer program be a drunk hobo in an alley? And if a male computer program and a female computer program have sex is that how new computer programs are made? There is a wasteland inside a computer where programs can't enter? And what the hell has Kevin Flynn been eating for the last 25 years to stay alive? Were these questions answered in the original movie because I swear I tried to watch it again but couldn’t find it.
The only thing TRON: Legacy needed to accomplish was to entertain me until the credits rolled. It did that and I'm happy.
7 out of 10
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