Second Look - Tron: Legacy

Note: The following review contains spoilers for Tron: Legacy.

In the nine years since starting this blog, we’ve looked at hundreds of movies and games as part of our never-ending journey through pop culture. Now, we’d like to honor the blog’s 1000th review by looking back at the film that started it all, Tron: Legacy. Since it had been eight years since our last viewing, we went into this with relatively fresh eyes and found that while it held up pretty well, there are still certain persistent flaws.

Seven years after the events of Tron, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), now CEO of ENCOM, disappears. 20 years later, his son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), ENCOM’s primary shareholder, performs his annual prank on the board of directors by releasing their latest OS onto the internet for free. After he’s released from police custody through bail, Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), an ENCOM executive and Flynn’s old friend, meets with Sam to discuss a strange pager message he received from Flynn’s arcade. Sam investigates it and is beamed into the Grid, an independent digital ecosystem that Flynn had been working on in his spare time. He is immediately captured and forced to participate in “the Games”, where he fights the masked program Rinzler (Performed by Anis Cheurfa, Voiced by Bruce Boxleitner). When Rinzler realizes that Sam is a User, he takes him to Clu (Performed by John Reardon, Voiced by Jeff Bridges), who Sam quickly realizes is not his father, but a program that resembles a younger version of him.

Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) prepares for battle in "the Games".

There are things that I like about the writing. The introduction of the Grid provides not only an outlet for placing characters in the virtual world once again, but also a canvas for a unique world with its own history and quirks. I also liked that the length of time between films was worked into the main story and how this film not only addresses the strained relationship between Flynn and Sam, but also uses the Grid itself as a vehicle to talk about the perfection within imperfection.

Of course, there are things that don’t work as well, mainly to do with plot conveniences and world building. The biggest, and most notable, plot convenience lies with the fact that they establish that the portal to leave the Grid is hard to get to, yet they’re able to take a freight train that goes right to it. As for the world building, it’s not really clear why certain elements of the Grid would exist outside of the Games, like a nightclub, or how exactly programs function outside of having tasks and unique personalities. The original Tron raised questions for the latter point, but the scope of that world was small enough that it felt more believable.

Fortunately, the movie is still well-acted. Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn and delivers a good performance as a man who has lost all will to fight and instead focuses on finding peace within himself. He also does voice work for Clu, which makes sense from a narrative standpoint, with a performance that’s good enough to distinguish the two characters. Garrett Hedlund does a good job with his portrayal of Sam Flynn, as does Olivia Wilde with her role as Grid native Quorra.

If there’s one thing about Tron: Legacy that has aged well, it’s the CG and general aesthetic. The monochromatic usage of color throughout the Grid feels in line with the virtual world present from the original film, but more streamlined, and adds to the tone of certain scenes. I still like the generally minimalistic design approach and the way certain elements are updated, including the Light Cycles and Identity Discs, as well as how the Light Cycle light ribbons are now more fluid and less like an old video game. Of course, the film is also pretty dark, with heavy shadows, a darker color palette and a consistent overcast throughout the Grid, usually with only glowing lines to illuminate the action.

The light cycle battle is a visual treat.

What hasn’t aged as well, however, is the effect used to de-age Jeff Bridges. It seemed okay when I first saw the film in 2010, but now it feels off, with the face at least once actually lagging slightly behind the rest of the head when walking. This unsettling uncanny valley feeling actually works when used on Clu, since it heightens the fact that he’s a villainous program made in Kevin Flynn’s image. When used for Kevin Flynn, however, it just simply doesn’t fit in with the rest of the world around it.

The appearance of a young Jeff Bridges hasn't aged well.

One interesting thing about the film, however, is its unique use of 3D. Unlike other 3D films where the effect is applied during the entire run time, it's used here to achieve a certain effect; the film is flat (non-3D) when in the real world and 3D when in the Grid. This highlights the scale and wonder of the Grid when the characters explore it and also gives the viewer a heightened sense that they're now in another world entirely. Interestingly, the film actually advises viewers at the beginning to keep 3D glasses on at all times due to this intentional filming choice.

The best thing about the movie, however, is the soundtrack by Daft Punk. While the single, “Derezzed”, is the most well-known song from the album, I think it’s for the better that it isn’t just a catchy house beat for two hours. The score features a unique blending of orchestral and electronic instrumentation and incorporates “The Grid” as a good leitmotif. I will note here, however, that the music has a very noticeable presence in every scene, sometimes mixed a bit louder than expected. Additionally, unlike a lot of other films released today, the film was actually cut and timed to the score, which helps it stay memorable even long after watching it.

Daft Punk also cameo as DJs in the End of Line club.

Before I end this review, I want to expand on my earlier comment about the Grid providing a canvas for a unique world. Not only did this movie have two prequel tie-in games, Tron: Evolution and Tron: Evolution - Battle Grids, both of which get subtle nods in the film, it also had a prequel tie-in series, Tron: Uprising.

As this is the only opportunity that I’ll have to talk about it, Tron: Uprising was an animated series that aired on Disney XD from May 2012 to January 2013 for one season of 19 episodes. It had a unique art style that skillfully blended traditional and computer animation and featured a unique cast of characters that helped flesh out the world of the Grid through the struggles of the Resistance in taking down Clu. This show was also unceremoniously cancelled and we consider it criminally underrated, so I highly recommend that anyone reading this try to watch Tron: Uprising in any way that they can (preferably through legal channels).

A can't-miss piece of Tron media.

I would also like to take a moment to address the currently nonexistent third Tron film. After production wrapped on Tron: Legacy, work on a third film began and would continue on and off production for a few years until 2015, when Disney had apparently scrapped the project after the poor performance of Tomorrowland (2015). Why the failure of this film would have any affect on Tron is unknown, but as of now, director Joseph Kosinski and co-producer Justin Springer still cling onto the possibility of a third Tron, they just haven’t found the right opportunity to approach it yet.

Even after all this time, Tron: Legacy holds up pretty well. Though the story is flawed, the appropriate use of CG, unique form of 3D and incredible score help the movie stay entertaining through repeat viewings. I would recommend this to fans of Tron and to people looking for a unique sci-fi film, though it does help to view the original Tron first.