Monday 1 August 2011

Film: Tron: Legacy (2010)

This is an reimaging, and building on, of an incredible world first brought to screen in the 1980's and its realism is, surprisingly, heightened by the use of modern 3D.


With, apart from 'Avatar', unrivaled CGI creates a world of possibilities and is used for incredible light battles and exciting futuristic motorcycle races and recreating a youthful Jeff Bridges face for the character of Clu. He is the antagonist, a creation of Jeff Bridges' other character, this one aged, Kevin Flynn who was lost inside the 'animated internet' game he designed and trapped in his own cyberworld utopia. Over the years under the rule of Clu this world has become cruel and uniform, although it is poignant that these two characters should share a face...

The narrative is from the perspective of Sam (Garrett Hedlund), Kevin's son, whose story beginning overlaps with where Kevin's story ended in the original 'Tron'. Despite the "absent father who was idolised by his child and thereby left them damaged personnally" is a plotline which has been seen hundreds of times, it is my belief that it is not always the story that matters but the way in which is told and this narrative is definately unique!

There is intrigue, suspense and action which, fortunately, doesn't overshadow the complex character interactions. The issues raised in this film, despite relating to a cyberworld, has much revelance to the physical world of today as well as playing with the contemporary concepts of virtual worlds and technological advancement. It contrasts the spontaneaity of life with the automated, formulaic approach of machinery reminding us all how precious being alive is - a sobering lesson for our protagonist Sam.

Following Sam rather than the already defined protagonist, Kevin (Jeff Bridges), allows us, the new audience, to rediscover the wonder and danger of Tron through fresh eyes and this lets us bond with Sam who, in Batman style, is at the beginning a bit of a lost soul who clearly puts on a 'i-dont-care' front. His growth mirrors the arc of the plot through to its dramatc finale.

Another interesting character is Quorra (Olivia Wilde), and finally a female action character who doesn't conform to the, now, boring stereotype. She is crucial to the plot and despite being a little under used adds a feminine and half-way character between the father and son.

The message of the film doesn't feel forced, but like any great Sci-fi asks the audience to redefine the boundaries of what is right and wrong and how much of what we do is the product of how we were made: nature vs. nurture. This thrilling film even has hints of romance and the intangeable bonds of familial love, impressing that as limitless and wonderful as the internet is the real world has just as many wonders to discover and in todays world sometimes that is a hard thing to remember...


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