The Plot

Kevin Flynn has been missing for 20 years, disappearing one night leaving his only son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) parentless in the care of his grandparents. Years later Sam is all grown up, one night Alan (Bruce Boxleitner), a good friend of Flynn’s receives a page from Flynn’s arcade. He then sends Sam to investigate and whilst there Sam is digitized and sent to a cyber world which his father has been inhabiting for the past 20 years. However, the world Sam enters is far from the world his father envisioned. The new Master Control Program Clu, (a program created by Flynn) rules over the ‘computer world’ in a dictatorship style that has programs fighting against each other in gladiatorial type games. It’s up to Sam, Flynn and Quorra (Olivia Wilde) to bring Clu down and save both their worlds.

The Thoughts

When I was about to watch Tron Legacy, to say I was excited was putting it mildly, however after the first thirty minutes or so my hot excitement simmered down to lukewarm. Let me first say Tron Legacy has some of the most breathtaking visuals that I’ve seen in a movie of late, a feast for the eyes indeed, but to have had anything less than this would have made this movie pretty much unbearable.

Tron Legacy cast is notable with the key characters returning such as Flynn and Tron plus some very interesting new ones in the form of Olivia Wilde as Quorra and Michael Sheen as Zuse. Garrett Hedlund (Four Brothers) is very nice to look at, but I was somewhat confused about the role he was supposed to be playing – a super smart geek? Arrogant and cocky young billionaire? Who knows? (Who cares?).

Another returning feature to Tron Legacy was the plot. Yes, the same plot (with a few minor changes) that made the original such a success with its fans. I guess there’s not a lot to do in the ‘computer world’ other than take over all the other programs and have them adhere to your way of living or be deleted. Don’t worry though all the good stuff they could have used again in this sequel they did such as the light cycles and the glowing Frisbee discs that all return in a new and much more thrilling form.

Legacy’s soundtrack is also pretty much awesome and who better than Daft Punk to take the helm with their synth-inspired sound that fits with the tone of the movie to perfection, if you haven’t heard it yet, I encourage you to go listen now.

With all of this in mind let us not forget that Tron was a Disney film, Tron Legacy is a Disney film and the Tron franchise will forever be Disney films (oh yes, I definitely saw moments in this film that had smacks of sequels to come). Be warned there is enough cheese and roll your eyes moment in this to make even the most dedicated Tron fan hide their face in shame. Tron Legacy has been let down by poor and somewhat lazy writing with enough plot holes to make Swiss cheese.

If you have kids I encourage you to take them to see this and make sure it’s in 3D, they will love it but while you may find yourself disappointed with the way Tron Legacy has turned out, your children will be thoroughly satisfied.

The Film Buzz Rating: ******½~~~ (6.5/10)

UK Release Date: 17th December 2010

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writer’s: Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal, Steven Lisberger, Bonnie MacBird

I cannot wait for this to hit theatres it looks fantastic. Unfortunately we have to wait around a year or so to see this, but make sure you book your IMAX tickets as soon as readily possible, because this looks like one of those movies that has to be seen on a big ass screen.

Tron Legacy stars Oscar fresh Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Michael Sheen and Garrett Hedlund.

TRON is one of those movies back from the 80′s that they show every now and again on TV. The likelihood is you’ve probably seen TRON and not even realised that you’ve seen it. Jeff Bridges (The Men Who Stare at Goats) played Kevin Flynn an arcade owner who wants to hack into his former company’s Encom computer system to find evidence that his former employer stole several of his game ideas. Flynn with the help of some friends manages to hack into Encom’s system but is thwarted by Encom’s powerful artificial intelligence program the MCP or Master Control Program. Flynn is then digitzied by the MCP and turned into a computer file….wait it does gets better, if you can get past all the 80′s cheese.

Flynn is imprisoned by the MCP along with TRON a security program written by Flynn’s friend, and the two together undergo tasks or games set by the MCP. Do they triumph and manage to stop the MCP? Well I won’t ruin it for you, you can find out by watching TRON which is available on DVD, for now let’s get back to Tron Legacy.

Tron Legacy Film Poster

So not great deal is known on the plot of Tron Legacy, but Disney did release a synopsis of Tron Legacy, to sum up: Kevin Flynn’s son Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund – Murtagh from Eragon) looks into his father’s disappearance and is himself thrown into the same world of computer programs and gladiatorial games that are far more advanced than what his father faced 25 years earlier.

Also revealed was that Tron Legacy will show us at least “three or four things that have never been seen before in this movie” says director Joseph Kosinski said. Ah Joe how we are going to hold you to your word. We now expect this film to not just be good but to be awesome.

Tron Still 1

Tron Legacy Poster 2

TRON was also recently immortalised in the popular role play game Kingdom Hearts 2, where Tron himself is playable character. So for those of you who can’t wait till next year for Tron Legacy you can immerse yourself in Space Paranoids, the name of the playable ‘world’ in Kingdom Hearts 2 that the TRON characters feature.

Tron Legacy looks stunning, just check out some of the stills alone. We’re excited for Tron 2 at TFB. It looks like a stellar cast, that joined with some notable writers and visionaries Tron Legacy will surely be a feast for the eyes.

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: 7.5/10

UK Release Date: December 2010

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writer’s: Adam Horowitz, Richard Jefferies, Edward Kitsis, Brian Klugman, Steven Lisberger, Lee Sternthal

Links: IMDB, Official Site

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