First things first… If you haven’t seen TRON: LEGACY, Â and you like that whole surprisey thing, there are MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.
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The long awaited sequel to the highly regarded Disney film got a lot of things right (e.g. Olivia Wilde + skin tight outfit = excellent) but there are some key things it also got wrong.
I’m not even talking about the subjective things, like why Cillian Murphy‘s character was only in the movie for 3 seconds. I’m talking about obvious things. Things that leave you a little sad, and a lot mystified, as to how they could possibly have ended up in a completed film with a production budget of 170 million dollars.
From least important to most important…
5. Fakes on a Crane
Like many movies that start off with glimmering potential, there’s a pivotal scene where you realize, “Ah crap, this isn’t going to be the ride I hoped it would be.”
That moment for me in TRON: LEGACY was when that damn security guard decided to step out on the crane. Did anyone believe that a $10/hour security guard would risk his life by walking out on a crane-arm, hundreds of feet in the air, just to apprehend a trespasser? Come on.
4. Would the real Tron Shady please stand up?
So the Tron character is disguised in a black outfit, with a dark motorcycle helmet for most of the movie. That’s cool. What’s not so cool is that so are a lot of the other bad guys.
Sure, Tron uses a double disc or whatever, but if we’re in a midst of an action-packed melee, or if Tron hasn’t yet whipped out his discs, it’s extremely difficult to tell Tron apart from the other guys in tight black outfits… with dark motorcycle helmets.
Tron?
Three or four times in the movie I thought, “They just killed Tron! I can’t believ– No… there he is again.” Couldn’t Tron have been given a simple stylized digital face? Or something  that would allow us to tell him apart much more readily?
3. A not-so-total eclipse of the heart
Tron… He’s a badass villain for 99% of the movie and then in the final action sequence he… what? Has a change of heart?
There was no build-up. No explanation of a restraining bolt, or reprogramming, or even that Tron was fighting against his constraints or true nature. Nope.
All we got at the end of the movie was a cheesy line about how he fights for users. If the filmmakers had taken the time for one simple beat showing Tron’s inner struggle during the movie, this moment would have been somewhat rewarding… or at least comprehensible. [Filmmakers’ homework assignment: This scene from RETURN OF THE JEDI]
2. Holdin’ out for a hero
We can all agree that Sam Flynn (son of Kevin Flynn) was the protagonist right? In successful action movies, where the heroes triumph, it’s the protagonist that should ultimately save the day.
No so in TRON: LEGACY. Sam Flynn was reduced to the R2-D2 role of mission support.
He was a tail gunner… He sprouted some wings inexplicably at one moment… but in the final sequence he didn’t do a whole hell of a lot.
I like that Kevin Flynn sacrificed himself to save his son/the world — but not to end an epic movie. To use another STAR WARS instructional — What if they had just rolled credits after Obi-Wan Kenobi died, and the crew simply escaped to freedom? It wouldn’t have been nearly as satisfying, right?
1. Young Jeff Bridges (AKA: The Digital Boom Mic)
Before there were digital touch-ups in post production, many movies were lessened by the accidental appearance of a boom microphone. You would see it, and it would completely take you out of the moment.
Well the horrible — I repeat, horrible — CGI used for young Jeff Bridges was the equivalent of seeing a boom mic every five minutes! It made it nearly impossible to suspend disbelief.
Haven’t a Clu
They must have known it was bad too. There were digital filters and darkened screens used to obscure the effect throughout the movie. But I can only ask why? Why was the effect so jaw-droppingly bad? Especially when the rest of the film was so visually stunning.
In THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, the effect for Brad Pitt was flawless. In WATCHMEN, Billy Crudup was seamlessly integrated with buff blue… parts. Hell, even with the limited budget of cable television it’s amazing what they’re able to do.
Put it all together, and it amounts to another big budget movie that squandered its potential — on things that should have been obvious to correct.
What did you think of TRON: LEGACY? Were there other obvious problems that you would have listed?
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Trevor, I agree Tron is a big problem movie. I play every xbox good games out there, and when I watch Tron, I say, this is it, that’s it, this is what you call a movie? This is a just an awful project or special presentation FOR some other ******** planet…
I tired of reading about how writers, directors and producers …who think they know the pulse of cinema. They think they are good, when they suck.
When you make a movie like THE MATRIX or write a script like THE MATRIX, then you understand the pulse. Nothing matters afterwards, you wrote and made the f***** MATRIX.
THE MATRIX, damnit, thats a cutting edge sci-fi cool script.
In the meantime, who the F***** is watching Tron, it cost so much money to market that who cares, SFX , cgi with no story, zzzz!
Could you see the football team at your local University or the Marine or retired Cops watch this crap?
Noooooooooo.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
It sucks.
Nolan should of directed this movie. And his brother should of written the script.
Hey Andrew, next time don’t hold back. 🙂
THE MATRIX — Yes, brilliant movie.
Thanks for the feedback.
There wasn’t much of an Act 3 and I wish that old-school light cycle didn’t randomly have some story in the movie then get passed of to some guy, never to be seen again.
Hey Jabari,
I agree, Act 3 was definitely the weakest. But the question is — was that the fault of acts 1 and 2?
I guess the old-school light cycle served its purpose by just getting Sam into the city. It was a sweet ride while it lasted.
Not exactly the best review… the main reason I dislike the review is how unobservant and overobservant this is at the same time. If you were a true fan of tron, you would see that Tron is the only character wearing the origional Tron outfit. The point about the security guard is total bull, who says he is 10 bucks an hour and who says that wasnt the only job he could get. It was clearly explained why Tron turned into a good guy, he remembered that he “fought for the users.” This review is worthless.
Hey Someguy,
“Tron is the only character wearing the origional Tron outfit.”
Really? Other than the 4 dot pattern (which was much smaller and in a different position on the new Tron outfit) they look nothing alike:
Exhibit 1: New Tron:
http://dl.xbox-experts.com/tronpc/Tron-Legacy_Light-suit-double-disc_Image-Credit-Disney-Enterprises-Inc.-800×582.jpg
Exhibit 2: Old Tron:
http://johnkennethmuir.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/tron2.jpg
“The point about the security guard is total bull, who says he is 10 bucks an hour and who says that wasnt the only job he could get.”
You’re missing the point. No guard, regardless of pay, is going to be dumb enough to climb on a crane to apprehend a suspect, without any ropes or security harness. Thinking the thief cornered, he would have simply called it in to police. Or tried to talk him down from the edge of the building.
“It was clearly explained why Tron turned into a good guy, he remembered that he “fought for the users.”
Oh that’s right — he remembered… at just the right time. That explains everything. As the Church Lady used to say, “How conveeeeeeenient.”
Perhaps this will lead to a trend in Hollywood, where one of the chief antagonists simply remembers something during the climax, thus saving the protagonist. I’m sure audiences will find that much more satisfying than the protagonist actually overcoming an obstacle or rising to the occasion.
This review is worthless.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Oh wait, were you talking about mine or yours?
Tron: Legacy is my most favorite movie ever!!! But I guess I wouldn’t know anything about making movies cause I’m just a teen, though I do agree with some of what you said, Tron: Legacy didn’t meet it’s true potential, it could’ve been better if they had just spent a little more time and money on it, I noticed at times you could tell C.L.U. was digitally Computerized, like near the end when he was trying to get in the portal (that whole scene was a bit cheesy), I also agree that Tron could’ve started having constraints earlier in the movie, but oh well, I still think it was pretty freakin’ awesome!!!
I like your style Ruschia!
I agree with you, Tron: Legacy had some great moments, but didn’t meet its true potential. Sounds like you know more about movies than you give yourself credit for.
Let’s hope they do even better with the next sequel!
Thanks for the comments.
while agree with you in that Tron’s change of heart was executed poorly and it’s timing and only sole purpose was A) to throw the audience off CLU’s trail for a time being so he can pull the “ol’ magically faster and invisible villan” routine and B) throw some bait for a Tron 3
the only time he showed “mercy” or some goodness left inside him (altho debatable from some stand points) was after the initial fight against Sam where he hesitated upon learning he bled rather then derezzed and when did a “double take” upon hearing the name Flynn aside that there was no emotional struggle what so ever as you mentioned, they could have even tried cheating and as kevin was telling of his betrayal it ends with a scene change to CLU preparing to storm Kevin’s home with tron shaking his head as if he was having a vague distorted memory that isn’t quite familiar to him but it’s only implied that he was shareing/haveing it as well
Wow, that’s one helluva sentence Draconas! But I agree with you. Good observations.
This was a very interesting review to read. I agree with parts of it; disagree with other parts. Which is no surprise, really. I’d like to address it point by point, if I may:
5. The guard on the crane.
You are correct on this one, but the crane scene is like the previous “elude the bike cop” scene–it had to establish the fact that Sam Flynn can hold his own and isn’t afraid to take chances.
When he ends up in the Game Grid not much later, those scenes help suspend disbelief that he can hold his own there. But that’s probably obvious.
The fat, blundering security guard made a nice visual contrast to Sam’s character.
4. Mistaking Tron for other mooks.
I had this problem throughout the film! There were at least three scenes where I thought he had died. It was confusing.
And where did the name “Rinzler” come from? The Tron Wiki says he was named after a Lucasfilm exec. Good for him, but…I would’ve preferred a name that might’ve hinted better at who was wearing that helmet.
(I completely missed the dot pattern on his chest, though. That clue got right by me)
“Rinzler” is an awkward name for a heroic character.
2. Sam Flynn.
I agree with you that he didn’t really live up to heroic expectations, but I get the feeling that this film was trying more to re-establish the older characters, like his Dad, Alan, Tron, Clu, and everyone from the first film.
I get the feeling that Sam’s moment to shine will be in the next movie (probably when he goes up against Dillinger’s son), and I’m sure there will be a next movie, for one reason:
Did you notice that the only real on-screen death was Clu’s? Zeus and Gem seem to have died, but we never saw them do so. All we got was a long shot of the club exploding. I have a strong suspicion that Zeus is also an ISO, and was smart enough to code a bolt-hole into his club.
We also saw Kevin Flynn reabsorb Clu…but Flynn’s disk ended up back in the real world. And Tron didn’t die, either.
I’m betting we see all four of these “dead” characters in the next film, and I’m also betting we see more heroics, more character development, and (of course) more romance from Sam Flynn and Quorra.
1. Digital Jeff Bridges.
I gotta say I was expecting something a little more “realistic” and less “uncanny valley” there. Did Disney suddenly run out of money to throw at this movie? Why not just hire Weta Workshop? They did a great job with Gollum.
I think they were relying on the fact that Clu himself was computer-generated. It’s a bit of a cop out, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the film for me.
I liked this movie, despite its flaws. But I liked the first one, and I love 3D movies in general. It’s a cheap effect I’ve been in love with since I was a kid. So if I sound like I’m overanalyzing this movie, that’s probably why.
Besides, for a Disney movie, this wasn’t too bad. At least it didn’t have any saccharine heroines and cheesy musical numbers while recycling the same animated sequences from Snow White and Cinderella!
I’ll take that.
Hey Adam,
Thanks for taking the time to compose such a thorough and thought-provoking response. Here’s my response to your response… 🙂
5. I agree with everything you said. Except all that could have been accomplished without making the scene so unrealistic.
4. Thanks for the insight on the name Rinzler. Wasn’t sure what that was all about.
3. Hey, what happened to your #3?
2. I’m all about leaving room for a sequel, however a satisfying arc for your protagonist shouldn’t depend on it.
Look at Star Wars. Luke continued to grow throughout the sequels, yet the arc that was provided in the first movie stands on its own.
Good point about the only real onscreen death being Clu’s. I think they definitely left things ambiguous for a reason (i.e. the sequels).
1. Interesting hypothesis about relying on the fact that Clu was computer generated. However that certainly doesn’t explain the digital Jeff Bridges in the scenes with his young son at the beginning of the movie. His damn voice wasn’t even synced to the lip movements! Grrrrr. Apparently my rancor hasn’t subsided all that much. 🙂
And hey, Disney hasn’t always been so saccharine. Remember a dark little kids movie a few years back called SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES? It was a bold experiment by Disney — one of my favorites growing up, and still holds up to this day.
Oops! I did indeed miss point #3. You got that one right–they should’ve stuck a quick scene in there with some hesitation on Tron’s part. I wonder if they did and it just ended up on the cutting room floor.
As for Disney…I raised a daughter through the 1990s, man. Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast…all that crap. Disney made the 90s a special hell for fathers. Seemed like the lesson from every movie was “oh, don’t listen to your Dad! It’ll all turn out in the end! Go ahead!”
Thanks again for the dialogue!
Adam — Yes — good point! I often wonder too in movies with obvious shortcomings: “Was the scene filmed but cut for time?”
Ha! I hadn’t thought about that consistent theme in 90s Disney movies. Sounds like a class action lawsuit to me. 🙂
I liked the basic plot outline and ideas in the story, and the way they left room for a sequel, but I just can’t understand why they would spend so much money on making the movie, and leave out a decent script!
(I never really noticed the problem with CLU’s CGI, I was too busy staring at the fantastic background CGI)
It seems the whole thing was compressed in an effort to appeal to everyone, and ended up being a let down.
Nice review by the way.
Hey Chris, I agree. The overall idea, etc. was all right, but yeah, damn.
You’re right about the inconsistency. On one hand there *were* some absolutely brilliant visuals (and I’m not talking about Olivia Wilde). But then there was CLU.
Often large productions will utilize various special effects houses for different elements. It reminds me of Blade 2 in a way. In that movie there was seamless, perfect integration between the makeup and creature CGI effects. Yet that movie also had terrrrrrible CGI for some of the fight sequences (the characters looked like they suddenly became anorexic and lost 20lbs).
Thanks for the note!
I was half expecting a situation like Kingdom of Heaven- ie a Directors Cut being released which fleshes out the plot, and puts in a few scenes here and there that make the plot devices make sense.
Like the Laser that “teleported” Sam into the computer. I hadn’t seen the original Tron before, and I had no clue what was going on. It would’ve taken about 30 seconds to put in a back story that at least explained what the laser does. And CLU’s plan for taking over the world or something. Was I the only person that needed an explanation on how he would do that?
It was commendable that they at least made an effort to give Sam the start of the movie, and not just jump into the action or give a brief synopsis of Tron.
Thanks for the Reply!
I like your idea about the Director’s Cut filling in some details, but I’ll do you one better. I wish more movies followed Wild Things lead. That movie had those fill in the gap scenes over the ending credits! I thought that was brilliant.
Ha! Good point about the laser! I hadn’t thought of that. Having been a fan of the first movie, I just took that knowledge for granted, but you’re right. And how did it get there? CLUs minions on the outside?
CLU taking over the world… yeah that part’s a little fuzzy. If you figure it out, let me know.
I have a few problems with Tron. First off, let me say that I was horrified that they’d get the look of the thing wrong and they most certainly did not. It looked fantastic. To me, that was half the battle. That being said:
1. This is Flynn’s home-made white bike. Old school but still the fastest thing on the grid. Does it leave a negative trail? A white trail? I can’t wait to see! It’s like the sword of destiny or something. I have a feeling this is going to figure heavily in the final…..wait what? Sam drives it to town and gives it to a homeless program or something. End of coolest object in the film. I have no idea why they did that. Plus it led the bad guys straight to Zeus’s bar. Weak.
2. Zeus. I was SO hoping that Castor had Sark in a back room. David Warner’s damaged self, perhaps being kept alive in one of those giant full-body shell carapaces like the old program in the first TRON. Crushed by the loss of the MCP, Sark is secretly giving information to the rebellion. That would have made me lose my mind with coolness.
3. Tron himself. Reznick? Why the eff was he fighting under the name Reznick? Wouldn’t a fantastic symbol of Clu’s total dominance be making TRON himself into a killing machine pet? They had a young version of Bruce Boxleitner in a flashback sequence where three programs advance on him and bring down their discs. I wanted to see TRON’s face with a giant scar through it like that prisoner in the beginning standing next to Sam in the prisoner transport. That would explain his slavery. Also a few shots that showed him fighting that control, especially in the presence of Flynn senior, would have sold me huge on his sudden change of heart at the end.
Other things, like the turkey (WHAT?) and the grey area of time passage inside the computer (has Flynn senior been in there for years or centuries?) didn’t bother me too, too much but those three things really got on my nerves.
Hey skonen blades (now that’s a cool character name), thanks for your comments! I completely agree with all three of your big grievances. It’s just so frustrating because these things (especially #1 and #3) would have been sooo frikken easy to fix, and should have been readily identified early on.
The Sark idea. Holy crap, that would have been awesome. I would have been right there with you losing your mind if Sark had made an appearance. Great idea!
I’m a month late on this I know.came across it by accident while making a tron legacy SMS theme for my phone.
When I first saw this movie I was like wow.how do you have tron the movie without tron actually being a big part of it.
With that said the first tron was great. Why?because tron actually lived up to his role.
We all know that Bruce’s face was CGI in younger form for the flash back scene when c.l.u. 2 origionally decided to take over. I guess what I mean to say is if they could CGI Jeff’s face for c.l.u. the whole movie why not do that for Bruce so that tron could effectively be the awesome acrobatic, disc fight user saving champion we’ve all come to enjoy.
The movie could’ve been better.it wasn’t the biggest letdown movie ever.its even entertaining once one tolerates the obvious issues. Point blank without a great script story line and follow through especially in sequals millions or thousands of dollars spent are better off thrown down the toilet. So tron wasokay.I like the movie.I just don’t tolerate the fact that the dude who the movie is named after has a garbage role in it and is seemingly unimportant outside of the villain role.
Oh and Sam not having a character arc until the end of the movie(it was a small one) is unacceptable. Movie example. The rocky series. Though the base of the movies were the same.at least the champ could grow and overcome things.its motivation.Sam didn’t have this. Other than that.tron is still a favorite.legacy and the origional.it was made a few years before I was but much like most things in the 80s it was monumental and trend setting.so maybe tron 3 will be better.
P.s.Trons outfit in legacy was nice I think.not to flashy not to drab.
p.s.s daft punk did an incredible job with the sound track.
Hey FlleetingLight, I fixed the trim/tron typos in your post and the wasn’t/was issue (in case you’re looking for it).
I think there are two reasons they didn’t have the regular Tron (i.e. Bruce Boxleitner’s face showing) in the whole movie:
1) It would have been too expensive. They were already up to 170 million. Having to achieve that effect for two characters throughout may have broken the bank.
2) The effect for CLU already sucked and they were trying to hide it as best they could. How many digital boom mics can one movie have? The scenes with Bruce Boxleitner’s face superimposed over a young Tron worked because they were mostly distance shots or quick shots in a darkened environment. I think utilizing more of those shots would have exposed more of that effects house’s limitations.
I agree though — that would have been cool to have Tron in a more central role (though I was okay with the surprise turn as a villian — just not the way it played out).
They could also have used another actor instead of Bruce Boxleitner. How easy would it have been to explain it away with a simple line of dialogue? “We had his face altered so that… blah blah blah.”
Thanks for the stopping by!
Thanks for fixing those errors. I was on from the phone so it would auto correct tron to trim.I had to put tron in the dictionary.
Your right.money would’ve been an issue I reckon. They should’ve just found a look alike or something.everyone has one.
I agree as well rinzler was pretty cool.I find myself practicing his flips and what not.but nothing beats the good old “i fight for the user” tron.
Great post by the way.
The movie was great. 2 things ! 1 rinzler’s suit was different from all other bad guys . 2 why the hell aren’t the waitresses wearing discs in the club fight scene ? Isn’t everyone supposed to have a disc . And if they lose it , well when Sam got his suit the computer said it will lead to ” deresoloution “.
P.s. avatar set a high standard for that whole face change thing !!!
Hey Danny — that’s a good point. Where are the waitresses discs? Maybe they were using them as serving trays. 🙂
Late to this article, too. But I recently watched the movie again and I’m trying to break it down in my mind and fix the problems I have with it. I love the look and the sound, but the weak story and script really cripples total enjoyment.
One of the things that kind of sums up the laziness of the script for me is that small dialogue between Alan and Sam at the end of the movie. They meet up in the arcade and Sam tells Alan he was right. “About what?” Alan replies. Sam answers: “Everything.” Like the writers couldn’t be bothered with anything meaningful or descriptive for Sam to say. That stuff just happened. Yeah, OK, everything. Whatever.
I’d like to see a TRON 3.0. But the movie would need fresh writers and a better story this time to go with the amazing visuals and audio (and Quorra). They definitely need to give Edward Dillinger, Jr. more screen time with the same actor. And try and get Lora to make an appearance! 🙂
Hey Mark,
Yes, the look and the sound were fabulous. Too bad the story/script wasn’t on par.
I think the plan must have been to give Dillinger Jr. more screen time in the sequel, otherwise WTF? Would be cool to see Lora in the sequel, though it’s unlikely anyone would recognize her. She sure was beautiful back in the day!
Cindy Morgan still looks gorgeous – http://www.cindy-morgan.com – and she made that appearance during the Encom presentation as part of the TRON: Legacy publicity.
It seemed a shame to waste a good actor like Cillian Murphy and not develop him further. But like you say, they probably planned to use him in another sequel which has yet to happen.
That portal scene and Kevin Flynn’s “telepathy” or whatever it was didn’t really work either. It’s frustrating when you watch these things and wonder why more effort wasn’t put into making them better.
You’re right, Cindy still looks good for her age!
I don’t even remember the telepathy scene. Maybe my brain has flushed it out of its system.
I think it was telekinesis not telepathy, since Flynn knelt down and focused his “Dude” power to pull Clu 2 back across the bridge from the portal to absorb him.
Ah yes, now it’s comin’ back to me. The “Dude” power! Haha.
Hah, crazy to see that this is still going!
I should point you towards Tron:Uprising, which despite being a 2D (mostly) animated series is still better to my mind than Legacy was both in terms of plot and character development. Well worth the watch if you get the chance.
I’m a CG artist, I work in the VFX industry. And you’re right about young Jeff. Utterly shocking uncanny valley especially in the real world scenes which frankly should have been done some other way. To an extent I can understand it with Clu since at least he’s meant to be digital – but that doesn’t excuse the valley problems. That said part of the reason Button was so good was that they could spend almost their entire FX budget on that one thing. Golum and the Na’vi are nonhuman enough that you don’t notice it. Tintin was better than Clu but still had issues despite Weta devoting massive resources to that exact problem for years. It’s a major problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley – these days it applies more to animation than looks since we’ve nailed the look.
In terms of what tron did wrong… I wanted more science fiction with my scifi. It was just an average pretty action flick as it turned out and didn’t bother exploring things like the internet, computers in everything, games or anything scifi really. Boring. Nothing memorable, nothing to ponder, nothing to haunt me afterwards like a good scifi would have (Inception springs to mind). And that’s without even mentioning all your valid criticisms of plot, believability and character.
I think I could have overlooked the uncanny valley real world Flynn if the story as a whole was stronger and resonated more afterwards (although the “1989” scene is so short, why did they bother?). The Tron world Clu is OK because he’s supposed to be synthetic… but even then, every other Tron world character looks totally human. VFX humans are still not quite there yet.
And rob is right, there wasn’t enough substance in the story to make it really satisfying beyond the audio/visual experience. They pretty much recycled the original story, and there’s very little sign of a sequel to expand on any potential they established in Legacy.
Rob — That’s very validating to know that a CG artist agrees with me! Thanks. Hopefully there’s far less uncanny valley in the next film. And I appreciate the tip on Tron: Uprising. I’ll definitely check it out.
Mark — Even if the story was stronger, I wouldn’t have been able to overlook the uncanny valley of this movie. It was just… soooo bad. But you’re right — all things being equal — if the story, script, direction, etc. was stronger, certain things would at least have been forgivable.
But I still don’t buy the whole, “Clu was supposed to be digital” excuse. It’s the world of Tron! All of the digital programs look entirely human. Why would Clu somehow be different?
The truth is I didn’t notice that young Flynn was computerized until the very end, when he showed his face into the portal and we saw him very closely. I actually thought they had shaved old Flynn and put some make up, and that he was actually that young in real life, and he had just let his beard grow to film the old character.
However, there is something that bothered me the whole film regarding young Flynn, which is his jaw. When he spoke, his jaw was completely off, I can’t explain it. It was like watching a dog talk. But as I said, I took for granted that he was real, which is amazing in my opinion, for not many characters from games nowadays are able to make me believe they’re real.
PS: The fact that they barely showed Tron’s face… or Tron at all in a film called “Tron”, is also something that get on my nerves. Other than that, I liked the audio and effects of the movie a lot.
That’s very interesting, 0bito. Thank you for adding your thoughts to the conversation. Sounds like your subconscious figured out that young Flynn was CGI before your conscious mind did. Cheers!
I have to agree with the points you make in your review. But I think you missed the biggest plot hole, one that should be unforgivable. They have planes on the grid. The Flynns and Cora should have made a b-line for the portal the moment they realized what was happening. Clu was obsessed with his “game” and wouldn’t have realized they were gone until the portal closed.
I almost feel as though the writers knew there were major holes in their plot, and this is what leads to the poor 3rd Act. The 1st Act is all fast paced, background heavy setup. It’s got enough thrills to keep up interested even though it’s essentially 23 minutes of backstory. The 2nd Act starts well enough, with a confusing flurry of action, dramatic irony, nostalgia, and revelation. The wheels just fall off when Kevin takes the “lie down and die” approach, while Sam takes the “better to die alone than try teamwork” approach. Both make no sense given the circumstances, but pad a whopping 80 minutes to the middle where the protagonists have to resolve the consequences of their horrible decisions (side note: want audiences to hate your protagonists – make them bumbling idiots who cause more problems than the antagonist). Once the 2nd Act has finally resolved the issues it created the movie degrades into the logical choice, as previously discussed within the movie, a sprint for the finish line.
The ending really let me down with the big sacrifice. If Kevin showed an ounce of fight the three protagonists should have easily overcome the one antagonist, especially since Sam’s life is on the line and Kevin has made it clear that saving Sam is the only goal. A good shove off the platform and Clu would have been out of the picture, protagonists all go home and live happily ever after. The “zen” thing feel incredibly forced the whole movie, and most so at the end – Kevin is famed for being ultra competitive and a shrewd businessman – this turnaround without limits should rub the core of his character the wrong way. At least the artistry and music where awesome, what a pretty waste.
Hey Chris, great critique! I agree wholeheartedly. I especially like your side note about the bumbling protagonists. So true. A “pretty waste” indeed. Thanks for stopping by to comment!