Tron: Legacy - (December 17th, 2010): PG
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #1 with $44,026,211
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $44,026,211
Gross Revenue: $67,026,211
Budget: $170 million
Director: Joseph Kosinski
As I mentioned in the “Short and Sweet” review, the biggest obstacle facing Tron: Legacy involves the fact that the original Tron was released decades ago, and even back then, it wasn’t that popular. Still, with today’s audiences, the idea of people existing as programs within a videogame was sure to resonate and draw strong crowds who would undoubtedly enjoy a visually stunning adventure, regardless of whether or not they remembered the original story. Once I saw the first trailers attached to everything from Alice in Wonderland to Resident Evil: Extinction, I did a little research and was shocked to discover the massive marketing plan Disney had prepared for Tron: Legacy…they were clearly gearing up the beginning of a massive franchise. In addition to the strong special effects promised to audiences, another strong draw for Tron: Legacy was the presence of crowd-pleaser Jeff Bridges, who would be reprising the characters he brought to life almost thirty years ago. As a notorious videogame enthusiast, needless to say I had my 3D glasses in-hand, ready for the digital adventure Disney had been preparing for years.
The world of the Tron franchise follows Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a brilliant software programmer who, in the first film, built a virtual domain within a videogame system that human beings can enter and fully interact with, a frontier known as The Grid. Within The Grid, computer programs appear as humans, and in an attempt to perfect his system, Flynn built two programs, a security program known as “Tron” and a development program known as “Clu,” Flynn’s identical digital representation within the system (also played by Bridges). Tron: Legacy picks up just as Flynn goes missing…fast forward twenty years and Flynn’s now-adult son Sam (Garret Hedlund, Eragon) is still haunted by his father’s disappearance. As fate would have it, Sam stumbles into The Grid, where Clu now rules with an iron fist and Flynn has been trapped for all this time. It is revealed that Clu betrayed both Flynn and Tron in an attempt to build the perfect system and has been trying to steal Flynn’s information disc (a literal disc that houses all of an individual’s collected knowledge) so that he can enter the real world and impose his rule on humanity. Now that Sam has entered The Grid, a temporary portal has been opened to our reality, so Sam must now work with his father and his father’s faithful apprentice, a program known as “Quorra” (Olivia Wilde, best known for her work as “13” on Fox’s House), in order to get to the portal before it closes and escape without Clu capturing Flynn and getting through to our world.
Well, as was expected, the best part of Tron: Legacy involved the action sequences, whose impressive graphics and energetic soundtrack listings truly brought the notion of existing within a videogame to life (electronic music duo Daft Punk composed the music and even cameo as DJs). The scenes where Sam and Clu battle in a light cycle race or engage in a mid-air dogfight with virtual fighter jets are just jaw-droppingly cool, there’s really no better way to describe the sequences. The other big surprise involves Jeff Bridges, who is an absolute scene-stealer as he plays both a young and old version of himself (Clu was created in the original Tron, and, unlike Flynn, does not age), one a hero, and the other a villain. Even Olivia Wilde is enjoyable as the spunky and determined Quorra, injecting the right amount of attitude and innocence into the film to balance the rest of the cast. As a PG film, Tron: Legacy’s audience will largely be comprised of children, but sci-fi and video game fans of all ages will find something in this Disney adventure to ignite their imaginations.
Unfortunately, every element that acts as a strength within Tron: Legacy also has a weaker aspect, which severely hinders the overall quality of the film. As impressive as the special effects were, they could have been better as they almost completely ignored the potential of 3D technology; some have called Tron: Legacy the “3D event of the year,” and that is a horribly inaccurate overstatement, as a majority of the film is in 2D, which makes paying for the 3D glasses largely a waste of money. You would think that a film about live-action videogames would represent the perfect avenue for 3D action…talk about a missed opportunity. And as good as Jeff Bridges is as Flynn and Clu, he completely overshadows Garret Hedlund, who, even though he is supposed to be the main protagonist, is so one-dimensional and unsympathetic that it is hard for the audience to get behind his character or regard him as a hero. Beyond these weaknesses, my biggest complaint about Tron: Legacy is the uneven pacing of the narrative, switching between fast-paced action sequences and painfully slow exposition dialogues so often that it becomes a chore to try and follow or remain engaged in the story. The story is good, but after two hours of trying to understand it, the ending just feels labored, confusing, and anti-climatic. And on a smaller note, if you’re not a fan of techno-music, the soundtrack can get old quickly; in one scene in particular, the music is so dominating that it causes the set to resemble nothing more than a bad Vegas nightclub. In the end, with as much as audiences were promised with Tron: Legacy, the end result was disappointing.
After the lackluster box office weekends that met The Tourist and the newest Narnia, hopes were high that Tron: Legacy would be able to kick-start the Holiday Movie Season, but after the combined cost of both the production and marketing budgets (approx. $270 million), a 3-day haul of $44 million is hardly impressive. With this massively hyped sequel, industry analysts were projecting a $50 million opening, at minimum, but now, Disney execs are a little panicked that a strong international performance is needed for the film to break even. In all likelihood, family-friendly Yogi Bear drew away a portion of the younger potential audience, with some parents questioning Tron: Legacy’s appropriateness for children, while the PG-rating deterred some older moviegoers. Still, despite some weak elements and a large uphill battle to turn a profit, Disney has produced an entertaining adventure worth seeing, just don’t expect anything revolutionary and forego the 3D glasses.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
