TRON: Legacy

An incredibly wonderful world full of three-dimensional images. A picture about art which is art in itself. This isn’t a typical family movie, even though it was made as one. This in fact goes hand in hand with the fact that Tron: Legacy as a thing created for the masses remained misunderstood by those very masses. And it bombed at the box office. It remains “just" an experimental work trying to link two worlds on both levels. Maybe it could achieved both, but despite the director’s skills, in some places he made mistakes and so he didn’t succeed in this. Too bad (digital Jeff will no longer look digital in a couple of years time. We’re getting close with the technology, but we still have some way to go). Even so, it left me with a feeling that no movie has left me with for a long time. Amazement, a cleansing experience (but different than with Cameron’s Avatar) in a world where 1982 turns into the present. In this case, 3D made sense. (20/01/2011)

At times the words about the triumph of film design come to mind, but the boredom reliably overwhelms everything. I, as a viewer, have long since sobered up from the 3D fascination and the new Tron has nothing new to offer. Neither story-wise nor narratively; adjectives like "riveting" or at least "interesting" have no place in Kosinski's world. I enjoyed the old Tron infinitely more, even with its simple 8-bit graphics. (10/01/2011)

A visually and atmospherically absolutely brilliant piece of work, and I firmly believe that similar to films like The Matrix a decade ago, this film will set the pace and trend for the next several years in terms of technical execution and creativity. It's all the more regrettable that, in terms of plot, it's essentially a banal fairy tale that fails to entertain on its own. If they had managed to attach at least an average story to the “stylized” framework, it could have been a milestone in world cinematography. As it is, it's just an advertisement for how far today's technology can go, while also being a challenge thrown at James Cameron or Zack Snyder. (29/05/2011)

Can you imagine what this technological and design gem would be like if it met the usual requirements we have for movies? It would be as great as a film with a well-developed, deep story equaling TRON in imagination, design inventiveness and a futuristic vision. Notice the details (the dashboards of the flying ships, motorcycle designs, the glowing lining of the costumes and the way the characters dissolve into pixels after being hit with a disc), seamless integration of these details into rides, flying and balletic fights, and the synchronization of this elegant visual dance with the majestic electronic music. Just ignore the dumb catchphrases along the lines of “You gotta be kidding me” and enjoy the answer “Fasten your seatbelt!” to the question “What is your name?” Whether you think TRON: Legacy is stupid or not, it is a filmmaking event, the only movie of its kind. (17/12/2010)

An old world in a new perspective, a carefree charmer in the lead role, and Jeff Bridges in one of his career-defining roles. And on top of that, a perfect soundtrack by Daft Punk and Joseph Kosinski's otherworldly visuals from beginning to end. From an outdated classic that only a handful of enthusiasts appreciated we get a saga thirty years later that could have boldly headed towards further sequels, despite fate and Disney ultimately opting otherwise. And I don't mind at all that the script borrows from a variety of classic films, because the result, in the best sense of the word, was chewed up, spat out, and left me astonished. It immediately leaves you wanting to keep an eye out for any suspicious-looking computer. (24/04/2011)