TRON: LEGACY (Rated PG for mild profanity, sequences of sci-fi action & violence): Disney's original 1982 film, the first full length feature to be made with CGI effects, was a box office disappointment; only later to become something of a cult favorite among young sci-fi fans, so it seems natural, though financially hazardous, that the studios would attempt a reboot.
At the cost of $170 million, the 3D version (and our flat version) burst on screens following tremendous advanced advertising ploys. The hype, it seems, has paid off. Critics from their catbird seats panned it severely while the targeted youthful audience of electronic gadgetry fans found it 127-minutes of pure escapist fun, a sci-fi high.
And that's just what it is: a gigantic vid game played vicariously by a very large audience of people willing to ignore an old, familiar plot about good vs. evil, here played out with the whole universe at risk. It engulfs its audience, plunging it into the realm of electronics at its loudest, fastest ever.
As with the original film, this one begins and ends with "real" life in which Sam (Garrett Hedlund), son of famed game genius Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), grows to the age of 27 when he discovers the hidden world of his father and is pulled into the Grid in the digital world of Tron, there to find that his father has been living for a quarter of a century; he plays some disc wars, zips around with lightcycles, and with a sexy side-kick (Olivia Wilde) who might or might not be an advanced robot, is off to settle a score with the evil Clu (also Jeff Bridges). The trio is off to stop a malicious program from taking over the human world, creating fast & furious Atari-like games in deadly seriousness along the way.
A host of writers & re-writers put together a script that, if viewed honestly, is pure hokum. But then, what sci-fi script of late is anything else? The hook is in the trappings. As brilliantly conceived as the FX effects were in the original, they have been upped to thrill today's fans as much as did those of the 80s - assisted here by Claudio Miranda's stunning camera work, mixed full orchestrations & electronic sounds from Daft Punk, smoothly cut by editor James Haygood, and directed in his first movie direct Joseph Kosinski (who rightly focused on coordinating all of the above, setting them front & center, rather than highlighting the mundane plot and dialog, the "Hang on, it's going to be rough!" battle bunko.
The cast is barely adequate, with Bridges rising above the rest as he plays both his roles in top form.
You want art? Rent a Bergman or Kurosawa video. You want a purely visceral experience, make this your menu. (Grade: B-)
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