By Khaver Siddiqui
Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces details the journey of the timeless Hero as he battles his way through obstacles, is guided along by the old wise man, has to rescue the seductress and face his inner demons. It’s the textbook way to approach stories and Tron Legacy is one movie that tackles this beat by beat.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is an aimless soul, wandering from place to place, looking for his place in life. But he is listless and has been so ever since his father disappeared off the face of the earth. His father, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a computer programmer and maestro, mysteriously vanished leaving behind a software empire. Shirking from his responsibilities at his father’s company Sam is confronted by Alan Bradley (his father’s close friend and confidant) with some startling news: Kevin Flynn is alive, and what’s more, he’s looking for Sam. And thus the Hero’s Journey begins.
Sam ventures forth into the electronic world known as “The Grid”, in the hopes to find his father and rescue him. The world of “The Grid” isn’t an easy journey for Sam who encounters many trials along the way, the first and foremost being the diabolical Clu (also played by Jeff Bridges), a the only electronic entity that realizes what Sam’s appearance in “The Grid” signifies. But whilst Clu is eager to capture our hero, the young man is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), an electronic entity with a very interesting origin.
Tron Legacy is a great movie to look at. First and foremost, if you haven’t seen the predecessor, it is an absolute must if you are a special effect enthusiast and love traditional effects rather than today’s glossy and over the top CGI. Now having said that, Tron Legacy is probably one of the few movies that looks great by today’s special effect standards. Each and every single aspect is woven as if it was really a part of an electronic world. We can see the bytes and pixels that comprise of everything in “The Grid” and the atmosphere is, if you pardon the pun, electric.
Daft Punk’s soundtrack is an added bonus. Though drastically weakened by a traditional score interwoven within it, the score adds a whole new element of the world and the characters. The final product is a film that although serves well as the sequel to the Tron film but is a rather weak standalone. Viewers who haven’t seen the first one will find this one boring and tediously winding around itself in confusion.
Cast & Credits
Directed by: Joseph Kosinksi
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde & Martin Sheen
Released by: Walt Disney Pictures
Running time: 125 minutes
Rated PG-13
