When I left the theater, I was already doing the math in my mind for a review rating, debating a 6 or 6.5 out of 10. The whole experience felt a little like going to a theme park, waiting to board your favorite ride, even willing to wait upwards to an hour in line! When you board the ride, your excitement is at its peak, and off you go... then before you know it, its over and perhaps you wonder if the ticket to the park, the drive out, and everything in between was worth it. I left the theater, pondering the idea, and yes, the ride was worth it. You seek roller coasters for one reason, the thrill of the corkscrews, barrel rolls, and drops, even though they all last 15 seconds. This film took you on a ride you have never been on, opens your mind to things you may have never thought about, and packed enough action into 2 hours to satisfy an entire annual need for adrenaline.
The graphics were everything they said they were, amazing. Having said that, in dealing with graphics, there is rarely a full execution in which finds perfection. The flaw in this one were the computer generated Jeff Bridges. After awhile, you get used to it, but I think they may have been too satisfied with their work with the amount of closeups they shot. Everything else was really stellar. The whole world in which they created, and everything in it, was amazingly satisfying. I think notes can and will be taken from this outing, and will be applied in films to come, now that we know how well all they did went.
It is a bummer though, how the story couldn't find it's was to reaching half the level of the graphics. There were a lot of problems with the story. First off, the character development slips and slides around, making the sequel stand on shaky legs. Watching the sequel, you wouldn't understand why it was called "Tron". I don't have this problem with other great fantasies, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, even Harry Potter...
I think the film should have been stretched a bit more, perhaps made into a 3 hour or close, film. 2 hours and 5 minutes wasn't long enough to tell the complete story the way they went about it. The pace was pretty steady for the most part, but huge holes were left. Things that were introduced were given seconds to explain. In fantasy, exploration of things is really important to me. When I am told Middle Earth is anything at all, I want to see it, not hear it, and because they show me everything, I believe and love it. I don't want to hear a few words to explain major events or major elements of the story.
In the end, the story could have been very good if executed well. I won't elaborate very much due to spoilers. But the story in the end is much more vast than it presents itself in the beginning. There aren't very many twists, or unforeseen moments, but overall what good can be found in the story, however bad it was executed is still seen with distorted vision. The concepts of "father" Flynn, "son" Flynn, and the perfect Iso is still good enough.
I sure hope another "Tron" film shows up, I have certain needs that need filling.
Jeff Bridges... can't say enough about him, but in this film his screen presence was great and played his role as father very interestingly. I might be in a minority group for saying it, but I was also a fan of the soundtrack used, at least everything I can remember hearing.
Oh, and a quick shout out to Comic-Con 2010, or regarding it rather... every crowd cheering sound clip in the film was recorded in Hall H with the 5,000 people participating in the cheering. It was fun thinking about that during the film.
"Tron Legacy"
6.5 / 10
