I have never watched Tron. I never wanted to before I watched Tron: Legacy & I likely never will... That fact didn't stop me enjoying Tron: Legacy, and it definetely didn't stop my understanding of the story. In some regards, it's almost like Disney don't want you to see Tron; they did not even re-release the 1982 original on DVD before it's 2010 younger brother hit the big screens. In some regards then, Tron should be viewed more as a long lost cousin you could live without, rather than a vital piece of life support equipment.
That's not to say that I was totally following the story; at times the start of the movie felt like a place where I was already supposed to be in the know about what Tron actually was. I was told about 'The Grid', 'ENCOM' and 'CLU' in passing detail;d I felt that for outsiders the opening came across as very much being left out of the important details needed to join the club.
That being said, it was all encased in some great suspense and intruigue; Flynn Carson is missing, his son, Sam is a bit rogue and harming his father's old company, something is definetely not quite right.
Then comes the game changer as Alan Bradley, Flynn's old friend and main character in the original Tron tells Sam that he got a page from 'Flynn's Arcade' despite the fact that the line has been out of service for over twenty years. Sam at first is uninterested, but finds himself going to explore the graveyard of arcade machines. Behind the old Tron machine he finds the door to Flynn's secret office and manages to plug himself into the grid.
It's at this point where the extra couple of pounds you paid for those 3D specs actually pay off; the Grid is a beautiful and stunningly visual world. It is the only movie in 2010, barring the tail end of Avatar's run that was truly worthy of dishing out the extra cash for, a stunning computer generated world of neon blue lights, streaks of colour and astonishing scope.
Unfortunately, Tron: Legacy then has a twenty minute head-rush where it throws random action sequences at our hero, Sam is arrested and thrown into gauntlet after gauntlet of challenges; a disc fight using their hard-drives and a gladiator arena battle on Light-Cycles. It all looks incredible but it doesn't really make much sense; the thinking behind the whole sequence seems to be that Sam is a out of place in the world and as such, shit happens. All well and good but plot is forgotten and madness and mayhem come to the fore, which works for most movies but the set up of the first act seems to demand more than random moments or carnage.
Then along comes Olivia Wilde, leathered up from toe to neck, a seductive, bob-cut iconic hair piece in tow to pull the movie back towards story; her arrival slows the pace, ditches the action for a while and gets us to where we want to be, and that's finding out just where the hell is Flynn Carson!
Jeff Bridges will forever be 'The Dude' but this role is one of his most iconic as well, and he made this around 10-15 years before 'The Big Lebowski'. I could see why Flynn Carson is so popular; he's a breezy, interesting and gripping creation, Bridges age and experience on screen successfully bringing the audience through a very, very wordy explanatory section of the movie and he brings you out much more in the know. At this point I suddenly found myself really into Tron: Legacy as it became clear just what was going on and where we were headed.
Sure, I'll admit there was some dubious plot devices, the ISO's were very underdeveloped for how integral they were to the story, but it wasn't too damaging to Tron: Legacy's story, and the second half breezed through action sequence and expositional scenes with great energy.
The big bad of the piece was a first, Jeff Bridges played a computerised, younger looking version of himself, his creation on the grid, CLU. He may at times not quite have looked real, but boy did it look like Jeff Bridges and sound like Jeff Bridges and even moved like Jeff Bridges; it was the movies golden ticket and it worked brilliantly; who doesn't love a Jeff Bridges vs. Jeff Bridges finale to a movie.
As the end drew near it felt like a concluded story, but also one with possibilities for more to come. Whether it ever will or not remains to be seen, but I felt that as a movie to introduce a couple of new generations to 'The Grid', it did a pretty good job, whetting the appetite of the Tron fans of old and letting new faces work their way slowly into an already established world
It had it's problems, at times the fact it didn't know whether plot or effects were more important meant the movie felt like it needed to flip from one side to the other with little interweaving; Why couldn't the lightcycle battle have had more of an importance on the plot?
All in all it's worth the effort to go just to stare at the scope of the 3D world.
That being said, I still probably won't ever get around to watching the original Tron. But at least know I know that it's more likely because I can't get a hold of a copy, rather than I just don't care...
7/10
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