Ed's Review Dot Com

LivePlanet, Walt Disney Pictures

Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Oliva Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen, Anis Cheurfa, Serinda Swan, Yaya DaCosta, Elizabeth Mathis, Kis Yurij

Sam Flynn’s Dad, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappeared years ago when Sam (Garrett Hedlund) was only a kid.  Now he’s 27 and rightfully should be the head of his father’s empire.  But he’s kind of lost his way and though he’s a computer genius, he’s wasting his time away pulling an annual prank on the company.  But a contact from Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) and he’s pulled back into his father’s disappearance.  Finding a secret room in the old Flynn’s Arcade, he is transported into the grid and finds himself looking for allies and trying to locate his father, and fighting off the mistaken programs that were created that are running wild.

TRON was one of my favorite films back in the early days of computing.  Since I’ve been in IT since the mid 80’s I was always fascinated with the concept and vision of the original film.  Then to see Tron: Legacy is going back in time and seeing the world again as it has evolved.  It’s more modern and advanced about as much as the real world technology has advanced.   Everything works a lot the same, but it’s much faster and more dangerous these days.  The visuals and action are stunning, and folks who are fans of the original will probably love to see how it’s aged in these 20 some odd years.  The effects that were done to make Jeff Bridges look 25 years younger got a lot of press too.  It is resonably so, since it is really kind of creepy.  He looks like the characters in CGI films like Polar Express or Jim Carrey in A Christmas Carol last year.  They look sort of real, but sort of fake at the same time and it’s disconcerting.  But it is a computer created character that has not aged since that time, so it makes sense inside the game that Clu is a little different looking (ok, A LOT different looking) than Flynn.  They also made him look young in the real word flashback as well, but it’s short and done in a way that is not near as creepy as Clu is. So I think it’s fine the way they did it, amazing really.  As I said, the action is fantastic, and the graphics are worthy of all the time and money Disney put into it.  There are those who hated the original Tron, and so it’s doubtful that those folks will be impressed with this one either, but for those of us who loved the orignal, it’s wonderful, and I suspect it will pick up lots of new younger fans that cannot remember the original.  I was very impressed and enjoyed every minute.  And at just slightly over 2 hours, it’s EPIC without being a bladder buster!  I am a fan of both Flynns.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog