Tron: Legacy
Dec. 30th, 2010 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellestraI finally went to see Tron: Legacy and from the number of people in the cinema there were plenty of others who postponed it too.
I loved the visuals. The bikes, the planes and the game. The remaking of all the amazing parts of the Grid. All that made me stare in awe as a kid and leave the movie thinking computers are cool and I want that too. From the bike game fights to the planes the movie was worth seeing just for that. The visuals of the first one imprinted themselves on my little kid brain. The lightbeam sail still is what I imagine every time it is mentioned as a method of space travel. This new version re-imagined it in 21st century technology and it was amazing.
Well, almost all. I had two gripes with the look. One was de-aged Jeff Bridges. His look pinged my uncanny valley feeling so bad I cringed every time he was on screen. It wasn't as bad in the Grid as it was in all fake environment but the scenes from the past - they should've kept him as silhouette. And I say it as a person who liked the looks of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie. Still Jeff bridges acting was suberb and it made it easier to bare. The other thing was the famous orange-teal problem. I think sticking to red-blue or at least orange-blue of first movie would've been less cringe worthy.
I also saw it in 3D. I generally liked it but it made already dark movie even darker and sometimes all there was was darkness with some bright lines denoting objects on the grid. I don't know if anyone else had that problem - maybe it was the cinema I saw it at - but it made me want to see it in 2D. I was a little afraid 3D will make my head hurt as it is Digital 3D but it was unobtrusive and I think it just give a better depth to the game/fight scenes.
Another thing I liked were the real life scenes. I liked that there was no movie shining screen, strange revolving colours computer hacking. I liked that Sam and surprise Edward Dillinger were using actual Unix commands which, in terms of Hollywood computer science, is an incredible improvement.
The movie luckily is more then just visual effects. Although it sometimes seemed like Sam character was there just for stunts. Luckily he doesn't spend whole movie brooding over how his father abandoned him and becomes quite likable in the end. However best part was Jeff Bridges, especially playing against himself. And he had some of the best lines. It was also good to see Bruce Boxleitner both as Alan Bradley and, briefly, as Tron.
Of new characters I think I liked Quorra most. It might me my AI bias or maybe because I felt she embodied us genre obsessed people when she said she preferred Verne to all other books but I really liked her. And she was awesome driving/piloting. I almost expected her to drive Sam in the end but then she wouldn't have time to watch her first sunrise.
Michael Sheen was also good but I felt his character was pretty pointless and overdone. But both he and Gem looked pretty in all white. I also have a feeling they didn't die in that explosion.
In a way it was just like a remake with basically the same story of user(s) leading fight against the master program. But I think this movie was more about Kevin Flynn and his 3 children: the abandoned one, the one he raised and the one that rebelled. The whole plot was driven by their relationship with Kevin and the decisions they make due to it. In a way Clu's story is the saddest. He's insistence on this is what you wanted me to do and inability to change his mind. He is never able to go beyond his programming which I suppose just shows the shortcomings of Kevin Flynn (and I suppose humanity) as a god. Quorra is a true self-emerged AI and she was just thought by Kevin not created and of course his son is a human being who makes decisions for himself even if they are motivated by abandonment by his father. Both Quorra and Sam adapt to their changing circumstances and learn from it. Clu reminded me of Vicki from I, Robot - following programming to fault. Not able to change when new data invalidates previous assumptions.
The first movie can be said to have been about friendship this one was about daddy issues. The previous one was about rebelling against authority. This one showed children who think for themselves turn out better then the one following orders. At least in choosing who to rebel against ;)
I know, I know I'm overanalyzing this :P
The movie has pretty definitive ending but there was enough clues to warrant a sequel. I remember thinking that Jeffrey Nordling' character (the CEO) or Cillian Murphy's character as son of David Warner's Dillinger will be bad guys inside the Grid and they could yet be when Sam tries to take over the Encom and shares the Grid. And I wonder what happened to Tron. However Jeff Bridges probably won't be in it which has it good - less de-aging - and bad - it's Jeff Bridges, man - sides.
I had great fun watching this movie. It was exactly what I expected it to be. It was what I wanted.
I loved the visuals. The bikes, the planes and the game. The remaking of all the amazing parts of the Grid. All that made me stare in awe as a kid and leave the movie thinking computers are cool and I want that too. From the bike game fights to the planes the movie was worth seeing just for that. The visuals of the first one imprinted themselves on my little kid brain. The lightbeam sail still is what I imagine every time it is mentioned as a method of space travel. This new version re-imagined it in 21st century technology and it was amazing.
Well, almost all. I had two gripes with the look. One was de-aged Jeff Bridges. His look pinged my uncanny valley feeling so bad I cringed every time he was on screen. It wasn't as bad in the Grid as it was in all fake environment but the scenes from the past - they should've kept him as silhouette. And I say it as a person who liked the looks of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie. Still Jeff bridges acting was suberb and it made it easier to bare. The other thing was the famous orange-teal problem. I think sticking to red-blue or at least orange-blue of first movie would've been less cringe worthy.
I also saw it in 3D. I generally liked it but it made already dark movie even darker and sometimes all there was was darkness with some bright lines denoting objects on the grid. I don't know if anyone else had that problem - maybe it was the cinema I saw it at - but it made me want to see it in 2D. I was a little afraid 3D will make my head hurt as it is Digital 3D but it was unobtrusive and I think it just give a better depth to the game/fight scenes.
Another thing I liked were the real life scenes. I liked that there was no movie shining screen, strange revolving colours computer hacking. I liked that Sam and surprise Edward Dillinger were using actual Unix commands which, in terms of Hollywood computer science, is an incredible improvement.
The movie luckily is more then just visual effects. Although it sometimes seemed like Sam character was there just for stunts. Luckily he doesn't spend whole movie brooding over how his father abandoned him and becomes quite likable in the end. However best part was Jeff Bridges, especially playing against himself. And he had some of the best lines. It was also good to see Bruce Boxleitner both as Alan Bradley and, briefly, as Tron.
Of new characters I think I liked Quorra most. It might me my AI bias or maybe because I felt she embodied us genre obsessed people when she said she preferred Verne to all other books but I really liked her. And she was awesome driving/piloting. I almost expected her to drive Sam in the end but then she wouldn't have time to watch her first sunrise.
Michael Sheen was also good but I felt his character was pretty pointless and overdone. But both he and Gem looked pretty in all white. I also have a feeling they didn't die in that explosion.
In a way it was just like a remake with basically the same story of user(s) leading fight against the master program. But I think this movie was more about Kevin Flynn and his 3 children: the abandoned one, the one he raised and the one that rebelled. The whole plot was driven by their relationship with Kevin and the decisions they make due to it. In a way Clu's story is the saddest. He's insistence on this is what you wanted me to do and inability to change his mind. He is never able to go beyond his programming which I suppose just shows the shortcomings of Kevin Flynn (and I suppose humanity) as a god. Quorra is a true self-emerged AI and she was just thought by Kevin not created and of course his son is a human being who makes decisions for himself even if they are motivated by abandonment by his father. Both Quorra and Sam adapt to their changing circumstances and learn from it. Clu reminded me of Vicki from I, Robot - following programming to fault. Not able to change when new data invalidates previous assumptions.
The first movie can be said to have been about friendship this one was about daddy issues. The previous one was about rebelling against authority. This one showed children who think for themselves turn out better then the one following orders. At least in choosing who to rebel against ;)
I know, I know I'm overanalyzing this :P
The movie has pretty definitive ending but there was enough clues to warrant a sequel. I remember thinking that Jeffrey Nordling' character (the CEO) or Cillian Murphy's character as son of David Warner's Dillinger will be bad guys inside the Grid and they could yet be when Sam tries to take over the Encom and shares the Grid. And I wonder what happened to Tron. However Jeff Bridges probably won't be in it which has it good - less de-aging - and bad - it's Jeff Bridges, man - sides.
I had great fun watching this movie. It was exactly what I expected it to be. It was what I wanted.
