Tron Returns!

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the digital domain? What goes on inside the circuitry of your computer as packets of information are sent through it? Enter TRON. It is the sci-fi geek’s ultimate fantasy – a whole world lying out there, inside those clusters of computer networks. The entry? Just beam yourself in with a prototype particle distruptor/reconsitutor, picked from that experimental physics lab.

The original TRON (1982) follows the adventure of genius programmer Kevin Flynn on the day he gets beamed into the Grid, the cyber world of TRON. Inside it, he teams with anthropomorphic programs TRON and RAM in their quest to defeat the tyrannical Master Control Program and liberate the Grid. TRON – though not a major box office success – was visionary. The idea that computer programs have personalities and emotions, that they live in a society with its own culture, was absolutely enticing to my inner geek. TRON was a pioneer for adopting the then-limited CGI technology into its conceptual design. Even the digital world itself, the Grid, resembles a half-finished render.

Decades later, with CGI now able to create fluid life-like characters, it spawns the remake. Here, Sam Flynn receives a mysterious message from his father, Kevin Flynn, who disappeared 20 years ago. As he traces the message, he tumbles down the rabbit hole into TRON world and thus begins his adventure to search for his dad.

TRON: Legacy contains some of the most original and awe-striking action sequences I’ve seen in cinema in years

TRON: Legacy is an ambitious movie. It was shot using the most advanced 3D cameras at the time – cameras one generation above those used in Avatar, created by James Cameron’s team especially for TRON: Legacy. It combines Cameron’s engineering with Robert Zemekis’ digital motion-capture technology used in The Polar Express and Beowulf to bring realism to a whole new level. TRON: Legacy attempted something not done in movies before – to have an actor play both protagonist and antagonist, digitally rejuvenating one of them. If this sounds suspect to you, trust me, the results are so stunningly real you soon have to remind yourself they are actually the same person. Another classy touch to this film is how 3D is only used in the TRON world, rather than throughout the movie, which is certainly to the credit of the producers and director for not falling prey to ‘3D exploitation’.

Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn. His older, grizzlier look conveniently fits the Flynn of twenty years later. He also plays the bad guy, CLU 2 (original CLU was a friendly hacking program Flynn created in TRON). CLU 2 is the face of a digitally younger (and better looking) version of Jeff Bridges, courtesy of the guys who ‘de-aged’ Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button. Being one of the more philosophical of the Disney movies, TRON: Legacy is a biblical tale of a God who lost control of his creation and is in an epic struggle against his most powerful creation, his once right-hand man.

TRON: Legacy is probably the most violent Disney production to date. In the Grid, programs are pitted against each other in a brutal gladiator-style games arena that consists of disc combats and light cycle battles. The permission for violence is integral to what would probably be one of the outstanding legacies of the film: its ultra-stylishness. TRON: Legacy contains some of the most original and awe-striking action sequences I’ve seen in cinema in years and would probably set the modern paradigm for cool, in the way The Matrix did a decade ago.

TRON fans will be thrilled to see the evolution of classic elements like the disc wars, light cycles and the clothing especially, which now evolved beyond leotards with duct tape into an incarnation of a kinky fetishwear-inspired synthetic body-suit with glowing stripes. Yes, TRON: Legacy also breaks the barrier with the strongest sexual undertones a Disney production has ever had.

As if this weren’t enough, Daft Punk’s score [Spotify] is an exemplary piece of modern cinema music. A magnetic fusion of electronic and orchestral pieces, the score trembles with style and mesmerises with evocative adagios and nocturnes.

Verdict: if there’s one movie you have to choose for Christmas, make it TRON: Legacy rather than the fairy-tale with the anthropomorphic lion or Daniel Radcliffe playing with his magic stick once again.

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