The original "Tron" from 1982 is a unique creature of a film. The film stands as one of the first examples of computer graphics in film and boasted a unique art style. However, the film failed to connect with audiences, which led to the film receiving mixed reviews and bombed at the box office. The fact that a sequel was even made after all this time was nothing short of a miracle, but "Tron" proved to be unique enough to gain a devoted cult following that kept its memory alive and fans got their wish for a sequel in the form of "Tron: Legacy" in 2010. Similar to the original, the film received mixed reviews and many felt disappointed in the sequel's overall quality, but I would argue that the film is better than most give it credit for.
"Tron: Legacy" is a rare sequel that manages to keep the iconic art style of the original, but successfully manages to update that style in certain ways. The 80s techno/computer inspired artistry of the first film has been updated to fit in with our more modern ideas surrounding technology. The computer world, known as "The Grid", features buildings, clothes, and vehicles that resemble the sleek black/white, Apple inspired technology of today. Everything from vehicles to clothes also feature bright, colored LED lights similar to what you would see on an Alienware PC. It's safe to say that the film looks amazing and pulls off updating the "Tron" look for modern day. However, a film cannot just rely on visuals, there has to be more under the surface.
The original "Tron" had themes surrounding ideas about philosophy, mostly about the relationship between Program and User being similar to humans and God, but it never quite developed them fully to where it had a point and just felt a bit too shallow. "Tron: Legacy" also a has surface level philosophy, but I find the ideas and questions that it brings up to be a bit more fascinating. The film introduces the concept of ISOs who are naturally occurring programs that were seemingly created from nothing.
This raises many ideas surrounding artificial intelligence, the blurred line between what is and isn't classified as a living being, and whether organic digital life is just as authentic and meaningful as non-digital life. When you get right down to it both humans and ISOs are complex machines (one digital and one biological) infused with consciousness through mysterious means.
The film also briefly discusses ideas surrounding the concept of perfection. The villain of the film, C.L.U. (Jeff Bridges), is the program designed after the head of ENCOM and the creator of "The Grid", Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Kevin and C.L.U. are obsessed with creating the perfect system, but that all changes when the ISOs arrive. Kevin sees what unique creatures they are and the potential they have while C.L.U. sees them as imperfect programs and attempts to purge them from "The Grid". C.L.U. feels betrayed by Flynn for abandoning his quest for the perfect system and siding with the ISOs. At the film's climax Flynn confronts C.L.U., where Flynn attempts to explain that perfection is ultimately unattainable and the quality of life does not come from it.
The film does have some major flaws, however. The second act, while discussing interesting ideas, becomes a bit too bogged down by exposition and mythology to the point where it kills the pacing for a while. I also thought Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), Kevin's adult son, was a underwritten and lacked a lot of personalities. Despite this, the film features unique fight scenes such as the updated light cycle chase and a disc battle that plays with gravity in clever ways.
The film also features one of my favorite movie scores composed by the French techno band Daft Punk. They infuse a classically structured and composed film score with a technological layering and it sounds amazing. While the film wasn't a massive hit, it did do well enough to not be considered a bomb and there are talks at Disney about a third film featuring actor Jared Leto in the near future. I hope this article shed light on this strange, but amusing series and I hope it eventually gets the love it deserves.
