Overall, it was okay. I'd give it a solid C, 2 1/2 stars, whatever you use to rank something directly in the middle. This is sad considering they've had decades to get this right, they understood the expectations, and they ladled money onto the project. I'll never say it's a terrible movie, but it's certainly not the movie anyone I know was waiting for.
The Good
It's gorgeous. Every single shot makes you want to live on the grid. It's all so sleek and dark and crisp. As far as seeing this world the way I daydreamed it; it's flawless. Costumes are great, effects are as close to perfect as you get. As eye candy this movie is enough to make your eyeballs fat enough to swell up, pop out of your head, and hang there like a couple of wet oranges. Very, very pretty. Oh, and the 3D was actually pretty sweet. They didn't overuse it.
They captured the 80's really well with the flashbacks and the return to Flynn's arcade. I actually felt nostalgic for the days of loitering in arcades, something I did a lot that is no longer a part of our culture. There wasn't too much "lingo" like in the original, the whole trying to make things in Tron world parallel to the things in computers we recognize. I didn't mind that they didn't touch on that. Ultimately, it's a fantasy world.
Jeff Bridges is great, does a fine job and they somehow managed to go back in time and shoot him. Honestly, the age reversal on his evil twin got me wondering if any actors are ever going to age again. Sitting in this made me think they just might be able to pull off movies with young Bruce Willis, or Schwartzenneger. Not that we need them, but still, they could.
Oh and not only is it a feast for your eyes, don't forget your ears. The whole soundtrack is DaftPunk-tastic. Absolutely loved it. One of the few times in my life I actually felt like going out and getting the soundtrack. Daft Punk rules. They also cameo.
The Bad
This script was written by a team of lobotomized Disney mascots. Oh, and they'd been hit on the head with a 2x4. And then it was rewritten by the art direction team. Then the marketing team. And then when they realized there was no way it made sense, they brought in the Wachowski's to ensure that it was as convoluted as the Matrix 2 and 3, just to be sure.
This is not the story anyone ever wanted to see and even as it progressed, I kept wanting to see something else. Keep in mind, this must be a powerful bad story to cut through all the pretty effects. Even half mesmerized by how cool it looked, the sheer mass of stupidity in the story kept hammering me out of my happy place. Wait? The grid spawned alien life? The bad guy has a truce with anorexic David Bowie? They're going to invade Earth with glow-sticks? Off the grid looks sorta like the moon? *sighs*
The sad part is there were kernels of a story I would have liked to see. The fact that Tron was reprogrammed and re-purposed as a sort of evil Norton Anti-virus bad-ass was pretty cool. Even the idea of a program seeking order and perfection and becoming a dictator was pretty cool. But it's HOW they handled that that wasn't great. Clu is never really a villain worth anything because we find out who he is and what he's doing far too late and when we do, it's stupid. Invade Earth? Really? Cuz that makes sense. As cool as Tron disks are I wouldn't put any bets on how they hold up against machine guns, tanks, and missiles. Besides, why would you invade something you've never even seen? Maybe check it out first. I mean, this is as stupid as the aliens from Signs who are allergic to water and invade earth.
The whole plot structure lends itself to a sense of desperation. They're desperate to make us sympathize with the lead chick, they're desperate to make us sympathize with Flynn and his son's relationship, they're desperate to have us feel like something is at stake with this invasion. Desperation isn't really appealing. They're trying sooo hard and being sooo ham-fisted there's some of the worst dialogue I've heard in a while. Very heavy handed. SUPER heavy handed with laying the groundwork for the sequel too. They clear the board and Disney is all set for a whole string of these.
Maybe next one they'll hire some actual writers, but I'm not holding my breath.
That's all I've got.
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