Welcome to the world of TRON – or rather, ‘the Grid’..where there are only two neon lights to guide your path – blue and orange. Surprised? Confused? Well dats TRON for you.
Now I haven’t seen the original (for the uninitiated, this movie is a sequel, the original released in 1982) but the creators of TRON Legacy thankfully realized that there would be many more like me and provide every explanation during the course of the movie. The only issue is that the explanation comes at a painfully slow rate and there is nothing exciting or mysterious about the TRON Universe itself.
Interestingly, the movie starts in 2D (so don’t shouting at the hall attendents if you can’t use your glasses right away) because that’s the real world. Its only once you enter the TRON Universe do the glasses come in handy and then there’s an instant transformation; one is almost reminiscent of the stalwart, Avatar.
Reminiscent I say, because any real comparison to that movie, is a farce. It doesn’t even come close. In Avatar, Pandora itself was a wonder. The millions of colours, beauty of nature and imaginative creatures brought it to life. TRON in comparison looks desolate, dark and dreary
I can’t even blame the creators of TRON because all they had at their disposal was a criss cross of lines and circles, (circuit diagrams if I may) and like I said, only two colours – blue and orange, to paint an entire picture. Given those constraints, they seem to have done a pretty decent job.
The action sequences are racy and neatly done but again perhaps a little too quick for the eye to catch. The movie has too much of a video-game feel to it and in a game you want to be the one in control. Not helplessly watching proceedings with no inkling what can happen next.
The background score is quite good but one gets the feeling once too often that it creates much ado about nothing. There would be a resounding rhythm, increasing with every beat to a loud crescendo but all the screen will show is a train crossing by, or some doors closing. Hardly the right effect.
Unfortunately, I can’t criticize the movie too much because I doubt if there’s any other way to show what they wanted to. And you have to marvel at the idea. Creating a digital universe, a perfect world of sorts, and basing a storyline on the same takes a good amount of imagination.
However, TRON Legacy gets too convoluted for its own good. Its only when the movie is drawing towards its closing scenes that all the pieces begin to fall in place and one understands what this movie is about. Kinda like the Matrix (though that took a few repeat viewings to get the hang of) but the difference was that while in Matrix you were intrigued and excited to understand the world of the Matrix better, with TRON you are just waiting for it all to end and your world to be restored to Technicolour again
All in all, the movie looks more like a brilliantly displayed laser show with thumping sounds and beats to go with, rather than a fully fleshed out movie with characters and a plotline. Legacy or no, if they are making a third edition to this there’s a lot of that needs to be added to the current offering to qualify it as a worthy watch
