Film review: Tron: Legacy

Anyone under 40 or not into sci-fi may not be aware of the first Tron film, a pre-Matrix caper in which Jeff Bridges played both computer hacker Kevin Flynn and his counterpart in a virtual reality world. But enough back-story is given at the start to get viewers up to speed: basically Flynn disappeared mysteriously in the 1980s, leaving his young son Sam, who in the meantime has grown up to be a rebellious looker, and his software company, which the current greedy board are leading away from Flynn’s more public-spirited leanings.

After a boardroom prank, Sam ends up in the virtual reality world of his dad’s creation. But apart from everybody wearing ultra-stylish black and white clothing (de rigeur in all virtual reality worlds thanks to Keanu and co), this is a place of repression, where hapless citizens are pitched against each other in violent gladiatorial battles. The overlord of all this brutality is Clu, Kevin Flynn’s alter-ego (a digitally remastered Jeff Bridges made to look 20 years younger), while Kevin himself lives in exile with a nubile young lady (a special computer program who is humankind’s great white hope). Can plucky Sam save his dad and the girl and stop Clu from carrying out his dastardly plan (the specifics of which escape me – probably something to do with world domination)?

There’s a dash of The Matrix, a hint of Minority Report, a pinch of Star Wars, some 2001: A Space Odyssey and the plot’s been rolled out dozens of times before. The screenplay is not going to win an Oscar and there are no big ideas like those found in the films it references. But Tron: Legacy is not about thinking, it’s about seeing. The 3D graphics are simply phenomenal. As the characters zip around on motorbikes, flit between levels like a computer game, engage in aerial combat and fling strange Frisbee-like missiles at each other, the viewer is right in there at the heart of the action. Attention, talent and cash have clearly been lavished on the visuals, and though characterization and script would have perhaps benefitted from a little more of the same, the sheer visual feast should compensate for any such shortcomings.