Movie: TRON: Legacy
One of the first movies I ever saw in the cinema was the original TRON. I remember Dad dropped Mum and I off at the (long, long since closed) Roselands cinema. The house lights went down, and up came a film. I have no idea what it was, but I remember that it was a short film, it was a bit scary, and it ends with a rocking horse being set on fire. I think it was the Rocking Horse Winner, but I can’t be sure. Mum apologised that we must somehow have ended up in the wrong place, and I said it was okay (excited to be at the cinema at all, I think).
After the intermission, though (remember when films had intermissions?!), we actually managed to see TRON. And I loved it. It was a movie that brought an obviously fictionalised computer world to life. You could feel like you really were living in the computer world, which had a big appeal at the time). There were in-jokes for computer programmers (witness the little character “Bit”, whose only dialogue in the film is “yes” or “no”), there was a journey exploring the world of the computer, and there was a battle of good versus evil.
Fast-forward 28 years later, and there’s a sequel. Reportedly, the graphical proof-of-concept for the movie was shown at a large comic convention in the US, and the fans’ reaction there ensured that the film was made.
And perhaps that was the problem. In creating an incredible visual world of “the grid”, where the computer programs dwell and live their lives, they seem to have skimped on the script. A majority of fans of the original have voiced their opinions that this isn’t much fun, and doesn’t deserve to be the sequel.
For whatever reason, I really enjoyed it. The new “computer world” was suitably immersive. The light-cycles are now working on a multi-level board, and can turn smaller angles than 90 degrees, but they’re still light cycles. There’s Michael Sheen playing a David Bowie-esque character, which feels a bit out of place, but is certainly watchable). There’s a strange journey that the characters go on.
Yes, the dialogue is weak in parts, the characters aren’t developed very much, but I think it’s a very enjoyable sequel, and a return to the things that were best about the original.