Tron: Legacy visually transcendent but lacks substance
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After the heavyweight trio of "Let the Bullets Fly," "If You Are The One 2," and "Sacrifice" raked in huge box office money, a new Hollywood blockbuster tries to get a piece of the action during one of the hottest movie seasons in China.
"Tron: Legacy," from Walt Disney Pictures, is a sequel to the groundbreaking 1982 movie "Tron." With the original film's director Steven Lisberger as a producer, the film studio hired rookie director Joseph Kosinski to direct this big budget (reportedly $170 million) film, which features IMAX effects and a somewhat exhausting 3-D experience.
Unfortunately, "Legacy" offers a shallow, flat storyline. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, who starred in the original, returns as Kevin Flynn, an innovative software engineer and the CEO of ENCOM who disappeared 20 years ago in a computer game he created. Now his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) ventures to his father’s old arcade and inadvertently transports himself to The Grid, a virtual world inside a computer. Once there, Sam encounters Clu, a digital copy of his father who controls The Grid and sent Flynn into hiding. Sam makes an ally in the striking Quorra (Olivia Wilde) and eventually reunites with his father to battle Clu.
Although the original "Tron" inspired other cyberpunk classics such as "The Matrix" trilogy, "Tron: Legacy" appears outdated. However, the digital world portrayed and the visual effects are fascinating, and the Light Cycle race may be one of the most exciting and spectacular scenes seen in the past decade. Not to mention, Daft Punk’s electronic music perfectly matches the film’s vibe.
But other than being a fashionable movie for this geek era as well as a visionary feast, "Tron: Legacy" lacks merit and gives the audience nothing memorable. The plot is ridiculous and the actors give weak performances as they’re diminished by the dominating CGI.
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