‘Tron: Legacy’ is a film desperately calling out for a 4K release. Powerful IMAX visuals that are bound to trigger something from your childhood imagination. It’s as if Joseph Kosinski reached deep within a child’s membrane, like Flynn reaching into Quorra’s and painted a gorgeous hyper-noir backdrop just to play in. But against this backdrop would play out one of the greatest sci-fi films of the 21st century and one of the best sequels / reboots. While adults who fell in love with the original film were scoffing at the long-awaited return of Kevin Flynn and the Grid, I was mimicking the fighting styles of Rinzler and imagining myself walking along the battlegrounds (luckily, the tie-in Wii game satiated my appetite for a while). Perhaps this film just needed time, time to accept the lore-rejecting, the CGI Jeff Bridges villain and anything you wait 28 years for, will almost definitely not live up to the hype.
‘Legacy’ was one of my childhood films, the underrated gem. My mother didn’t much enjoy the idea of a sequel to such a film, but to me, it looked like a classic film of light versus dark, a tale to rival Star Wars (I was a Prequel Trilogy boy back in those days). When I finished it, I was blown away. The level of drama, musically and theatrically was astounding. I may have been too young to properly understand the lore of ‘Tron’ but what I did understand (A player fighting inside a video-game) was entertaining enough for me. I admit, even now, I still don’t completely understand the lore, but watching it again after around 10 years in it’s entirety, there’s still that supreme level of appreciation, ever growing.
‘Legacy’ places Kevin Flynn’s son Sam on a journey to find his father and bring him home. After receiving a page from Kevin’s old office, Sam is transported into the Grid, a dangerous and alienating world inside our computers of human-like programs with a deep hatred for users. Kevin’s program clone, Clu, has been relentlessly searching for Kevin for countless cycles (A year in the Grid, equalling 333 days by my calculations). Believing that Sam’s appearance will draw Kevin to the only exit, Clu starts closing in, raising an army for his masterplan to invade reality and take over the world as we know it.
Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin, and while Kevin was originally light-hearted and a bit of a jokester, I believe Bridges more dramatic performance this time around benefits greatly, especially when he includes, what I suspect to be, some ‘Lebowskian’ behaviour. Simple words like “radical” and “bio-digital jazz, man” force me to conjure up memories of the bowling alley with John Goodman and Steve Buscemi. Overall, I think his tonal shift improves the story immensely and lends tremendous character development. Of course, Bridges also plays Clu, his CGI clone, and while I do enjoy Bridges as the hero, I think he cements a reputation as a villain here. His pent-up rage is brilliantly carried out, his big speech to his army as he proclaims his masterplan was fantastically authoritative that I, for a second, imagined him as one of the great dictators of totalitarian empires. Olivia Wilde plays Quorra, and while she doesn’t get a lot to do in this film, I believes she does a passable job. Her balance between a warrior and an innocent, curious student is well managed, I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off series or film for her character. Garrett Hedlund plays Sam with a nice little mirroring of Kevin’s first experience in the grid, but sets himself apart by embracing Sam as a man not worried about getting his hands dirty and much more headstrong. Like Bridges, Hedlund exercises comic relief lines wonderfully, managing an awkward but courageous tone you can’t help but chuckle at.
The soundtrack is damn-near perfect, composed by Daft Punk (who also cameoed in Zuse’s club), it’s a beautiful blend of organic and digital instrumentals that level up the film’s cinematic experience. The Overture is almost a battle anthem as its brass section assaults you with groups of 3 bar roars. The drum beat to ‘The Grid’ is temptingly catchy, with a fast-paced but quiet string section between, ending with the same 3 bar roars from the Overture. ‘Son Of Flynn’ is by far, one of my favourites, a synth track with such a quick pace, that it’s as if every note is another line of code as Kevin creates the Grid. Of course, the track that got the most attention is ‘Derezzed’ which makes extensive use of a beat machine and plays during the Zuse bar brawl. While it’s not my favourite, it’s a song I’d gladly add to my ‘Hotline Miami’ playlist. My favorite track on the soundtrack is ‘Adagio for TRON’ which plays during the ambush flashback and as Tron sacrifices himself so Kevin can stop Clu. Its opening is a tear-jerking melancholic string section before ending briefly before adding faster, more predatory strings as well as staggering synth beats against its ever-elevating melancholy string melody.
A big feature for ‘Legacy’ was its use of IMAX cameras and because of that, parts of the film are letterboxed. While they do save the best angles for the full screen shots, it can be distracting and I would argue with such an environment as the Grid, they couldn’t have afforded to hold back (I’m sure I’d have a completely different opinion as an IMAX cinematographer in 2010). But as I said before, ‘Tron: Legacy’ is a film begging for a 4K release and it’s frankly ridiculous it’s taken this long when films like ‘Coco’, ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ have gotten 4K releases before such a visual undertaking as ‘Legacy’
Mason’s Top 3 Reasons to Watch ‘Tron: Legacy’
- An almost perfect soundtrack by Daft Punk that should stand alongside their other masterpieces like ‘Random Access Memories’ and ‘Homework’
- Breathtaking visuals that rival ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’
- Brilliant cathartic dialogue that stood alongside that of ‘Revenge Of The Sith’ and, in my opinion, Sorkin scripts
For Your Feature Presentation
While the ‘Legacy’ soundtrack is one of the best, I highly encourage you to give it a try syncing the Alan Parsons Project album ‘I, Robot’ against it, beginning at the 1:27 second mark, just at the very first frame. It’s opening title track’s repeating opening beat gives the impression of a booting computer which nicely pairs to the first few frames. Sam’s infiltration of the ENCOM building fits perfectly with ‘I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You’ with every escalation timed right on each cut. The line “he’s gonna get you” from ‘The Voice’ was such a well-timed warning, playing the second after Sam is transported. While everyone was anxious at the CGI of the early 21st century (partly due to Robert Zemeckis’s obsession, which I adore), it was hilarious how the ghostly screams and moans of ‘Total Eclipse’ timed just as Clu’s CGI face was revealed, like an old Universal monster movie about a father returning from the dead. Lastly, I thought the last track, ‘Genesis Ch.1. V.32’ gave a beautiful elegy to Sam as he is taken presumably to his death as well as giving Clu a fitting WWE opening theme with its electric guitar as he walks onto the Grid.