Couch Potato - Tron 2010

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

Tron: Legacy (2010)

    

  

[SPOILER ALERT!]

  

   

We saw Tron last night.

 

I have a very vague memory of the original Tron.  It wasn't, like it was for many pre-teen boys, a seminal moment in my life.  I recall being impressed by the digital landscape, but I didn't know enough about the science of movies back then to realize that it was ground breaking.  I also wasn't into video games much.  Even as a child I preferred movies about people, relationships, psychology.  Give me The Breakfast Club over Tron any day.

  

But it was a big deal for Fluffy Bear.  He has always been fascinated by the possibilities and alternatives presented by science fiction and how, by presenting a view of how things could be, it challenges your acceptance of how things are.  He also knew exactly how difficult it must have been to create the effects presented in the 1982 film with the technology available at that time.

  

But, back to me.  

   

Just so you know, I went into this film with very little memory of the original and no sense of wonder to prejudice me.

   

I have to start by saying that the 3D in the preview for the new Cars movie seemed far more compelling to me than the 3D in Tron itself.  Does 3D work better with animation?  I don't know.

    

The 3D in Tron seemed to me like one 2D person is standing closer to me than another 2D person.  The CGI shots of the grid's landscape and the games had a wonderful sense of perspective, but not the scenes with close ups of the actors.

 

I did like the idea of the real world being 2D and the Grid being 3D.  Nice touch, which raises ideas of the Grid looking more real to us than a representation of our actual world, and what that says about what we want to believe about the digital reality.  You could write an entire thesis on that topic.

 

Don't worry.  I'm not going to.  

  

The key area where the 3D was stunning was, of course, the game and battle scenes.  The idea of the slipstream from a vehicle being a solid object that can destroy your opponent is still amazing, and was used to full effect.

   

The designers deserve full credit for the world they created.  Every aspect of the design - sets, costumes, makeup, hairstyling, down to every accessory in a living room or bedroom - was absolutely beautiful and perfectly placed.  Color, form, combination... all stunning.

 

The execution deserves a mention too.  The skin tight costumes the women wore did not cause camel toe.  Well done, wardrobe department!!!

  

The acting was pretty good, with Michael Sheen stealing the show.  (Maybe now IMDB will put a more flattering picture of him on his profile.)

    

But I could've told you he'd be a baddie the minute he opened his mouth.  It's a sad cliche that anyone with an English accent is a baddie in an American TV show or film, and it gets REALLY boring.

       

The plot was reasonable, and linked nicely to the original, but the writing seemed to me to be a little obvious.  I have a friend who is a Hollywood writer, and I know that these things are often not the writer's choice, or fault.  Directors, network officials, marketing officials, even actors - everyone packages and massages and chips away at what might have once been a wonderful script.  So who knows who's responsible, but the analogies, references, metaphors and even product placements... no subtlety.  No grace.  All were delivered with a sledgehammer.

  

See?  Clu is also Kevin Flynn's son!  BONK!!!

See?  Ducati make the best bikes!  BONK!!!

See?  Everything should be Open Source!  BONK!!!

See?  Perfection is right in front of you!  BONK!!!

See?  Being a total hippy doesn't work, but being a warmongering fuckwit doesn't either!  BONK!!!

    

Oh, one small thing... the main actor wasn't buff enough.  He barely had pecs, and had a layer of flab on his tummy.  On the other hand, every female in the Grid is, of course, utterly perfect.   Come to think about it, even the women in the real world scenes are perfectly proportioned.  

    

DOUBLE STANDARD ALERT!

   

I have to admit, there were many moments when I was bored stupid.  Sometimes because things weren't moving along, sometimes because the sentimentality was nauseatingly cloying and sometimes because the plot was so fucking obvious I was trying not to take out my iPhone and play my turn on Words with Friends.  

  

Yeap.  I know what's coming so I'll just check what the latest ridiculous non-word is that Ted has come up with by randomly combining his letters...

    

But there were also moments where I was just awed at what I was seeing.  There was a real beauty on the screen, and I don't mean a pretty woman.  Aerial flights over the main city in Grid, details of the flying machines used to arrest programs, the freight train... I could watch parts of this movie with the sound turned off and some rousing classical music blaring to set the mood.

  

       

Final verdict:

  

Go see it on the big screen, because even your ridiculous impulse-bought, debt-inducing 56" 3D HD TV won't do the design genius justice.  But make sure you don't sit next to a bony-elbowed teenage twitgirl who you would cheerfully choke with her popcorn, so you can spread out and nap briefly in the crappy parts.  

    

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