Alright! Today I'm reviewing one of my all-time favorite movies, Tron: Legacy. Tron: Legacy is just about the only movie where (For me, at least) the visuals have singlehandedly compensated for a lackluster story. For some people it's Man of Steel, for others it's Avatar, but I rest firmly on Tron: Legacy. I mean, I really like this movie.
Irrationally.
And it's not because it's a good movie, because it is, in fact, a pretty bad movie with a large number of problems. The programs are stiff and unlikable, with the human characters being not that much different. Everyone is cold or a quippy protagonist. Even the amazing light cycle race has the ridiculously generic "We have to work together! It's the only way!" dialogue peppered in.
The emotional core of the movie falls flat for me, the pacing drags after the second half, and the dialogue is unbelievably stupid. The characters are all thin stereotypes, with the only mildly likable one being Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn/Clu, and that's mostly because he's Jeff Bridges.
But I do give them the benefit of the doubt. When I think about how it was to film, it must be taken into consideration that the actors were likely the only real things in the movie. Forget Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, what percent of Tron: Legacy was CGI? I'd wager... a lot...
 |
| How much of this shot was CGI? |
That being said, the actual story of Tron: Legacy is interesting in the way that only sequels to 80s movies can be - The son of the original Tron's main character has grown up and now returns to the world of Tron in an effort to find answers and potentially rescue him. It's actually a pretty interesting (If idea that I really dug.
The thing I dug above all else was the visuals and the soundtrack. This movie has a god-tier soundtrack courtesy of Daft Punk, whose unique electric style fits this movie to a T. This is the type of movie where you don't feel it so much as you vibe with it. When The Lion King soundtrack plays, I get goosebumps. When the Tron: Legacy soundtrack plays, I want to take out a computer and start playing a game. They're two very different feels, but I thoroughly enjoy them both.
And the saving grace of this movie is the visuals. Like I said, visuals can never singlehandedly save a movie for me. Tron: Legacy is the exception. The visuals of the grid are so intricate and amazing, the tournament scenes show-stopping. I can't describe my love for them enough.
This is, simply put, perhaps the best CGI and production design ever put to film. Now that's a very tall claim and surely wrong, but I personally feel like it's true. No other movie has had the same amount of visuals and maintained the cinematography that makes Tron: Legacy so amazing. And, yes, I am totally glossing over hundreds of other movies that this might apply to, but I do feel that this movie deserves recognition.
And the visuals are nearly 11 years old at this point! The movie came out in 2010! The only other 2010 flick whose CGI is above-average by today's standards is Inception! It's incredible! Thinking about this movie is far more engaging than actually watching it.
Tron: Legacy is the definition of style over substance. I mean, it's fairly obvious that they tried to create substance, but they pale in comparison to the visuals. The grid is intense and desolate, the light cycle race is a showstopper, the disc battle is awesome and well-choreographed... this is a prime example of production design overshadowing everything else.
And for whatever reason, I liked Tron: Legacy. I liked it a lot more than other people. In all honesty, I liked it a bit too much. It's in my Top 25 films, but I'm not blind to its several, several flaws. It mostly boils down to this scene being one of the coolest things I've ever watched.
Overall, I give Tron: Legacy an 8/10. "For what Tron: Legacy lacks in character it makes up for in some of the best looking effects ever put to screen."
So, yeah, Tron: Legacy. I liked it, I liked the show it inspired, and I'm excited to see Tron: Ares (If that ever happens).
Comments
Post a Comment