Movie Review: Tron: Legacy

For the record, I have never seen the original Tron, nor do I really know much about it. The movie trailers that were released as early as last year didn't even peak my interest because, I admit, it just seemed like another overrated piece of eye candy that, yes, real fans were getting excited about. Me? Not so much. Good thing, this movie didn't disappoint one bit. Seriously.

Technically, this film was just incredible on just about every level. I mean, without a doubt, this shockingly set the standard for possibly being the most visually stunning movie ever created this year. It's clearly a special effects extravaganza! No, it wasn't as impressive or as revolutionary as Avatar - which obviously started it all - but the creativity that went into the set, production design, and costumes were absolutely exceptional. But I have to say, words cannot really do justice for how excellent this film was visually. Ha!

But aside from the superbly choreographed action set pieces and a fantastically sexy and stylishly futuristic art and design style, I thought the movie had a brilliant musical score thanks to Daft Punk. Not since, maybe the original Indiana Jones, have I seen or heard a musical score fit the set detail quite like this. I think a Daft Punk choice for it's musical score and soundtrack was actually inspired and they clearly nailed it, hands down.

Now, the cast, I thought, was actually good. I personally think the characters were perfectly cast. Garrett Hedlund was believable as the lead. Yes, he had to utter some clunky dialogues here and there and he was a bit stiff at times, but he served his role well enough. He actually reminded me of a better Hayden Christensen. Haha. Jeff Bridges, on the other hand, gave a solid performance. It wasn't as strong compared to his previous acting jobs but he did have his moments. The supporting cast also delivered but I have to mention Olivia Wilde, who I thought stood out the most - she kicked some a*s, for crying out loud!

Of course, the movie had it's flaws. The writing certainly wasn't the best. I thought the story didn't match the epic quality of the visuals and the soundtrack but the film was able to add just the right amount of depth to the movie to give it more of a background than most films revolving around spectacular special effects. Sure, it did have it's moments where it would slow down from it's vigorous pace, but maybe that's just me nitpicking.

To be honest, the right mindset for a film like this can make or break your opinion of the film. If you don't have inflated expectations and don't expect much more than impressive special effects, then you'll probably walk away pleasantly surprised. I actually had a similar mindset during Avatar, which seemed to also take advantage of groundbreaking special effects being more consuming than the story and had a similar result.

While the writing wasn't quite as polished as the special effects and other technical excellence of the movie, I think that there certainly seemed to be a good enough balance to keep it afloat and deliver an extremely entertaining movie. As far as eye candy goes, this film is possibly the best visual cinematic moment of the year. Enough said.

RATING: 9/10