Filed under: Reviews
Throughout the year, we've had lots of films that were shown in 3D, and most of them, from 'Clash of the Titans' to 'Yogi Bear' were just downright overpriced and awful.
Now, comes the one film that most have been patiently waiting for, 'Tron: Legacy,' the sequel to the 1982 film, 'Tron' where Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn and Clu.
Playing in IMAX 3-D, the film is visually dazzling, but the main problem is that the script was left of the drawing board.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Garrett Hedlund plays Sam Flynn, Kevin's son, whose reckless lifestyle has left him wandering the streets still searching for answers why his old man disappeared over two decades ago.
Visited by his father's partner, Alan Bradley (played by Bruce Boxleitner, reprising his role from the '82 film) after Sam pulls another stunt at his father's company board meeting, Sam is told by Alan that he received an alert from his father's pager that hasn't been used in decades. Going over to the abandon arcade game place where his father worked, Sam is stunned to find a hidden door where he discovers and enters a portal to another universe. After escaping gladiator-like games on the grid through the help of cyber warrior Quorra (played by Olivia Wilde), Sam discovers that Kevin Flynn is alive!
Apparently, Kevin's digital copy, Clu had kept Kevin from returning to the real world in the pursuit of perfection, and Sam has to figure a way to do so and save Quorra in the process as well.
This is where everything gets messy in telling the story. Whether you saw the original film or not, you will get lost in figuring this film out as the script is filled with plenty of holes. It's never clearly explained how Alan got the text and why now, twenty years later, or how Sam got sucked into the cyberworld. There are endless questions never answered even if one were to ask.
What works is the look of the film and the music score done by Daft Punk. It's hypnotic to say the least, but once you get past it, there's nothing else.
While Hedlund plays a bland Kevin, Bridges is having a ball playing two characters. Considering technology has enhanced over the years, Clu have been better drawn out as oppose to looking like some claymation character from MTV's 'Celebrity Deathmatch.'
If there was ever a film where the brain needed to take a break, it's 'Tron: Legacy.'