Went and saw Disney's Tron: Legacy--in standard 2D. Let it be known that after having watched it, I think I would have had the same opinion even if I did see it in 3D. I'll explain towards the end of the review...
The acting was fine, the story was simple, and for once the chick in the movie (played by Olive Wilde), who kicks ass wasn't a bitch. She was peppy, plenty of smiles, and sweet (cute haircut too). Thank you Disney, I was actually hoping you'd stick to that quirky-girl formula. But what I'm sure you really want to know is: "How was the music?" So far, I've had at least half a dozen ask me that immediately after being asked if I enjoyed the movie. Well, it was pretty damn good, but let me ask you this: How many Daft Punk songs do you like? How many do you not like? See which answer is bigger and you get my drift: of course it was good, Daft Punk rules! But seriously folks...it was good, as said before, but most of the dancy songs, like the track called Derezzed, you only get to hear snippets of. Apart from that you hear score, which is good, but I recommend you listen to the soundtrack on its own for a more complete immersion into techno happy land.
I managed to find some nit-picky details that distracted me enough to frown. The characters are seen in a couple of different scenes drinking this aquamarine-colored liquid (we are never told what it is)--which compliments the film's decor and color scheme. Okay, I'll let that one slide--cause y'know, at least it looks like it belongs. But if you're going to suddenly throw a roast pig dinner into the mix, I expect to know how the hell that's possible. Damn that thing stuck out like a tombstone in a bowl of whipped cream. Give me one line of dialog, please! Just one. What ran through my mind at that moment was that Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges who seemed to be mildly emulating his Dude character from The Big Lebowski) had been trapped inside this universe for years, so he had to be sustained on something. Did he figure out a way to create food inside his computer world to feed his very non-computer body? Just say so. C'mon, would it have been that hard? I kept thinking about it for several minutes after that scene was over. But fortunately, more pretty things came onto the screen.
The pretty things.... Light suits (which were, by the way, actually real), glowing capes and robes, light cycles, buildings, rooms, the works. Remember in the latest Star Trek film when you got to see the inside of the Enterprise? Looked like a shiny new Mac didn't it? Imagine the same thing for Tron: Legacy, only this has a downloadable skin to make everything black instead of white. Gorgeous, hip, and totally soothing. I'm willing to bet it was half the reason why the time passed so well for me while watching the movie. It was very easy to look at and didn't hurt my eyes (however Kevin Flynn's little Zen room was a bit daunting).
Speaking of purdy thangs, I believe it's a case of apples and oranges on this one, but I thought Tron: Legacy was prettier than Avatar (I've been hearing some comparisons about who's the prettier one). Why? Because as much as I love animals and plants, there's a very attractive draw to technological beauty, finesse and attainable power for all. Would you rather wear a loincloth or a glowing bodysuit? Would you rather hunt for your food or push a button to make it materialize like in Star Trek (just my theory, but it's not a bad one)? Would you rather break into a sweat to force yourself on a wild, independent creature that can fly and be connected to you for life, or would you rather pull a motorcycle or a jet fighter out of your pocket whenever you damn well please? 'Nuff said.
My favorite part was a scene where Sam Flynn (played by Garrett Hedlund) enters a club aptly named "End of Line"--a little nod to the first film, and just one of many, if you're paying attention (a few cameos, a poster for The Black Hole, the name of the place Sam Flynn lives, etc). As he walks through the club, there's a sci-fi homage where the shots are filmed similarly to when Luke and Obi Wan enter Chalmun's Cantina bar in Star Wars: A New Hope. You don't see any aliens, but you do see lots of fancy folk enjoying that mysterious blue liquid from earlier in the film. Sam Flynn shows reserve and fascination as he walks through, and we get several closeups of random extras in different-styled light suits all expertly detailed--and then you see Daft Punk rocking the DJ booth--quite the upgrade from the Cantina band. And to make this scene even better, Michael Sheen (probably best known for playing the werewolf leader Lucien in the Underworld films) gives a short but incredibly spirited performance as Castor, the club's zany and eccentric owner. For such a short role, he makes damn sure you'll remember him after leaving the theater, even if all you can remember is "that crazy all-white guy with a cane."
As for the 3D issue...when I go to 3D films, I go expecting to see things coming at me. Horror films are good for this, and if an action movie has enough explosions, it'll work too. Kid films don't quite cut it--animation just doesn't seem to work the same way live-action does and usually there's just not enough pop-out things coming at you. Tron: Legacy was's that different, but it did have some notables. During the grid racing scene, there are a few moments where some of the vehicles came at you, or discs were thrown, but I didn't see those being integral for my enjoyment to the film if I didn't see them in 3D. If you do see it in standard 2D, interestingly, the end credits have these lines on the sides that look 3D on their own, which was really neat.
Tron: Legacy was fun, sufficiently entertaining to the point that I didn't check to see what time it was, had good tunes and was very, very pretty to look at.
End of line.
Monday, December 20, 2010
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