Confessions of a Fanboy: Tron

THIS IS NOT RIPPING OFF STARWARS A NEW HOPE

I love Tron.

The original movie (TRON 1982) was shown to me a ripe age that I cannot remember, but it was back when Yo-Yos were awesome and no one had even heard of  the Poke'mon, It like my other favourite sci-fi series' did its job of embedding its story, characters and most importantly imagery into the back of my retinas for all eternity.  I am often found referring to this when it comes to "Classic" sci-fi and is one movie that I will fight to the death to argue its place among the cinema elite.

DIGITIZING

Tron was the story of a computer programmer Flynn (back when being a computer programmer meant you were cool and hip not introvert and living in your mothers basement) who through trying to hack into the ENCOM computer system is zapped into a digital world by a digitizing laser. (SCIENCE!)


This was back in the 80's when people didn't really know how a computer worked so seeing this physical representation of what perhaps went on inside a computer was fascinating and not as silly back then as we look upon it today with our broader knowledge of digital technology, and by god did it seem plausible to me at the time.




Once inside he is thrust into a host of gladiatorial battles which made up some of the most memorable scenes from the Disk battles, Light Cycle races to tank and airship battles.  He eventually meets a security program Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) who vows to help Flynn to escape the grid and on the way destroy the MASTER CONTROL PROGRAM who has taken control of the grid and all its inhabitants and now even threatens the outside world.

 



 It was new, bright, colourful, fun and engaging everything any computer fascinated child could ask for, a computer based world with fantastical constructions and landscapes that simply cannot exist but really gave the feel of this computer coded land. 

Yori, Flynn and Tron, our protagonists!

It's was a story with many simple yet effective story and plot points such as the the MASTER CONTROL PROGRAM the ruling piece of software was waging war against any program who still believed in the users (the people who created this world, deity's). Tron the loyal security program who once again has a purpose (that of protecting Flynn) and the love interest of Yori. It was a classic adventure and one that seemed fresh through the frankly inspired design of everything, from the suits to the ships to the light cycles. This film oozed style and substance for anyone willing to ignore its few niggles.






And then.... HOLLYWOOD....

I don't know what it is but whatever I love is often later changed into a horrific glaring mess of shots and cheap dialogue that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger cringe. .....*SPOILERS*

So logically, TRON: Legacy was always lurking somewhere in the shadows. But I wasn't instantly against the idea, no when I first saw the announcement of a new Tron film I was literally back flipping around my room and hyping myself up for what surely would be the best sci-fi since Moon. Tron was back baby! and who would be with him?  oh you know...just DAFT PUNK composing the soundtrack.

 You hadn't seen a fanboy this ready to be blown away I gleefully followed all the press and news for this film eagerly awaiting the second coming of TRON, But what did I get?

LAZINESS. Nothing but disrespect for fans and the use of ICONIC imagery butchered to lure in new viewers to sell tickets rather than advance the plot of the first film. JUST A CASH IN.

The plot is that Flynn after defeating the MASTER CONTROL PROGRAM  goes back to the real world, only to disappear 7 years later. Much after that we are introduced to Sam, Flynn's son and the new protagonist of the film, as he commits industrial espionage on the company ENCOM (of which he owns due to his fathers absence) by uploading their latest operating system onto the interwebs (oh noes) and then proceeding to base jump from the top of the ENCOM building. ( this is to establish that Sam is EXTREME!)

"I SUCCCCCCCCCCK"

Later Bruce Boxleitner as Alex comes to Sam and tells him of a message he has received supposedly from Flynn which originates from the arcade (Flynn owned an arcade in the first film) and asks him to check it out.
So we go to Flynn's arcade as we see the set from the first film and the audience wishes thats what they were watching that film as Sam instantly finds Flynn's secret door to his lab of SCIENCE! and sits down at his computer where he instantly hits the "Digitize self" button and is sent into the grid.

He is picked up by a Recogniser and is immediately sent into the gladiatorial battles Ala the first film. Now where this differs is that Sam is INSTANTLY amazing at these games, he takes one look at the disc fights and his Jock training kicks in "fuck yah" he thinks to himself and instantly derezzes (kills) about 4 guys kung-fu flipping all the way. And there is no explanation for Sam's skill in these games and even fights later as he back flips and pummels his way through the denizens of the grid.

Sam: "I know Kung-fu"

 He meets CLU who is Flynn's doppelganger a program made to create the perfect system, who reveals he lured Sam here with the intention of using him as part of his plan to find the location of Flynn who has disappeared to use a bad turn of phrase ....off the grid.

Seeing this face moved made me want to cry at times. It is terrifying.

Looking slightly scary.

So his master plan to lure Flynn out ....he puts Sam into a 5 on 5 Light cycle battle where CLU immediately goes to chop Sam's head off with his disc (umm didn't you need him for your plan?). But, alas Sam is saved by Quorra a mystery hot chick in a dune buggy who springs Sam from the arena and takes him to a safe place that is to use a turn of phrase "off the grid".





Here we are finally introduced to the now much older Flynn (Jeff Bridges)as he channels the Dude from the Big Lebowski in all his "radical" glory. It was nice to see Flynn back in this movie but I really didn't understand his turn from happy-go-lucky computer programmer to The Dude MK II  or Digi-Buddah it was unfounded and distracting and made it just seem like you were watching Jeff Bridges rather than Flynn from all those years ago.

"That rug really tied the room together."

So after a really flat scene where father and son meet for the first time in 10 years or something to that effect, We then are treated to some back story on Quorra, Flynn's Jedi apprentice as she is a rare anomaly of program code called Iso's who evolved without being created by either Flynn or CLU and are a new life form in the grid.

Sam concerned about his father asks him to leave with him and says that they should head for the portal straight away, but Flynn doesn't like this idea as he cannot risk CLU getting hold of his disc and starting his reign of terror on earth. After a sissy fight Sam leaves in a huff Quorra telling him that he should visit Zuse a program who can get anyone anywhere.

Sam Visits the End of line club and is instantly betrayed by the blonde haired douche that is Zuse as he eats millions of pounds worth of what is very nice scenery with his oh so fay Billy Idol on smack routine. CLU's guards storm the club and a fight ensues, again with Sam knowing kung-fu he dispatches most of the guards single handled. Quorra and Flynn turn up to help but Flynn gets his disc stolen almost instantaneously as he arrives and Quorra loses an arm. They flee the club.

"My scenes were pointless" *Idiotic Dancing*

After this we have a brief scene with Rinzler one of CLU's bad ass bodyguards who captures Quorra and who is revealed to be the reprogrammed TRON (You saw TRON killed in a flashback) and we quickly skip away to another scene without the character who's name is in the title.

Hopefully the "T" didn't ruin it for you.

We then have Sam recovering the disc in literally 4 minutes from right under CLU's nose and he manages to leave without much trouble. He just jumps in a ship with Daddy Flynn and Quorra and its off to the final showdown.
Seriously this scene had so much wrong with it I recommend you check it out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgiZM-0B5oA&NR=1) as I cannot embed it for some reason.


We then rush off towards the portal in your typical chase scene, Sam gets onto the turrets and begins firing away like he was in A New Hope and Rinzler/TRON sees Flynn and decides this would be a good point in the movie to come back to the good side and sacrifice himself unceremoniously crashing into CLU only for CLU to steal TRONS back-up ship and continues the chase. Watch the movie below and try not to laugh at Jeff's "Tron..what have you become".

The crew finally reach the portal where we are confronted by the badly animated CLU doing his best to stay in the shadows so that we don't see his horrible claymation face. Flynn realises that  CLU won't let them leave so activates his....disc hoover powers and sucks the evil CLU into himself thus rejoining the two so they get...deleted? I'm not sure by this point the stupid dialogue and events killing my childhood had taken its toll.

Kind of sums up the ending.

So to wrap things up Sam and Quorra hit the TRON pose from the first film and are ported out to the real world where Quorra can somehow exist (the plot holes her being in the real world raises were simply too many to try and confront in my brain) and they ride off into the sunset.

Wow...that actually hurt to try and remember that much stupid at one time.



I hadn't walked out of a film so angry in literally years. It took everything that was likable about TRON and upped it to a level of Michael Bay incompetence that any sane person cannot bear for longer than five minutes. The dialogue was simply too stupid to comment on at times, hence this review of the plot being quite simple and fast. Because if I had to point out every plot hole in this film this blog post would not be finished anytime in the near future and I have already poured enough time into reliving these horrible events.

The updated look was fancy and effective at points and I feel that's where most average viewers get lost, as the TRON imagery is so unique and fascinating it can't help but capture your imagination. But as soon as you stop to think about the reasoning behind any of the plot, characters and their story arch's you see just how lazy this film is and how much the studios have turned what was a great original idea, did nothing to update it apart from visually and hurt themselves as they could have turned this new film into a beginning of a new trilogy of something that would really echo the era of digital and technological advancements we have made. Instead all we got was another big dumb action film. And one that this fanboy couldn't enjoy.


I have spoken about TRON long enough now. I am going to go lie down...Maybe watch TRON 1....yeah...

Yeah this film is the better of the two...sorry.