Pondering on Tron: Legacy

Got a chance to watch Tron: Legacy in 3D last night. My husband wanted to see it as he was a fan of the original Tron movie back in the 1980s. I only got to watch the first one just last year. It was a story about a programmer who was sucked into the computer world and who searched for a way out with the help of a program named Tron.

The movie poster of the 1982 Tron

I must admit, I kinda forgot some of the details, though what I know is that Tron is a name of a program, or in the world of The Grid, a sort-of character in a sort-of video game. And I believe, that is also the name of the arcade game Jeff Bridges' character created.

So when Tron: Legacy trailers and posters came out, I was pretty curious as to how it will attack the story done decades ago. The poster was kinda cute, though, a homage to the original:

Tron: Legacy official poster

And because our curiosities were piqued, hubby and I went to the theaters to catch it before the MMFF season bumps it off the cinema skeds.

While Tron: Legacy was a visual feast, a true eye-candy with modern CG enhancing the lightcycle and disc battles first seen in 1982, the story itself was kinda lacking. There's the story of the elder and younger Flynn and them in The Grid... which at some point became too predictable. And of course, there's the cute chick, a staple in every geeky movie, whom you know the dude gets in the end, albeit implied by the movie.

As the credits rolled, I was left wondering in my seat: 1) Why it was named Tron, 2) Why Tron was made into a minor character, and 3) What the heck just happened?

Yeah I get it, the first movie was entitled so, but somehow the main essence of the name was absent in the movie.

Soundtrack by Daft Punk was also nice (I think I saw them there in the movie), it sounded like I was brought back to the cyberpunk era of the 80s, but it wasn't like the soundtrack of the first Matrix movie, which was utterly cool and very memorable, and which also enhanced the emotion needed in the scene. I was looking for something that will make me bob my head, but it was only the songs of Journey and Eurythmics that did.

One thing I noticed, though, is that Tron: Legacy had underlying biblical and scientific themes: creation, perfection, war, evolution. But my head is still swimming in questions that I don't know if that's just unintentional.

For those considering catching the movie, I'll just warn you that you can expect less from the storyline itself. Visual effects -- yeah, they're worth seeing in 3D. That and the story combined, I give it a 3 out of 5.

The toys fare better in my rating:

Sam Flynn in his suit