Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tron: Legacy


Just arriving home from the screening of Tron: Legacy and immediately dashing in front of the computer to write has never been a story of mine to make up. It is Monday evening and the theatre is surprisingly packed with audiences looking forward to a good sci-fi thriller movie. It is a sequel to the original Tron back in 1982, where I was not around yet. I asked both my mom and dad about whether they had heard one back then, but it appears that they literally had no idea about what a “theatre” is. So, I write this review without knowing what the original movie looks like. The movie opens with the son of a pioneering software programmer, Sam Flynn, who is haunted of his father’s disappearance when he was a kid. Twenty years later he receives a paging message from Flynn’s long-shut gaming arcade where his father usually took him to play. Sam then decides to investigate the message and inside the arcade, Sam discovers an underground office where his father used to work with all system still working, he calls the command log and inputs some commands activating a digitizing laser which transported him to the imaginary world. The story begins from there on, revealing that his father, Kevin Flynn, is actually still alive although in an imaginary world inside a computer system. Twenty years before, Kevin created a digital frontier inside a virtual domain of a gaming system called The Grid, where he created two programs, Tron and Clu, which act as front liners to secure The Grid and to build a perfect system respectively. During the development of The Grid which involves something so-called isomorphic algorithm (ISO) manifesting out with potential of unlocking numerous mysteries in science, Clu saw it as an imperfection to the system and following his programming, systematically destroyed the whole programs but one, Quorra which is the last and only surviving ISO saved by Kevin. That said, it was a coup d’état with Clu betraying both Kevin and Tron, and seizing control of The Grid. Later on, Clu also takes control of Tron by reprogramming it as Rinzler to serve him. With The Grid under Clu’s power, Kevin could not accessed the portal to the real world and as a result, he was trapped in the virtual world and never return ever since. Despite this, Kevin as the system creator could choose to “re-integrate” with Clu, but at a cost of destroying them both and The Grid, that also means he will never see his son again. He subsequently moves away from The Grid as it was found out that Clu is chasing after his identity disc which is the master key to the real world, a perfection according to Clu’s programming algorithm. Kevin’s identity disc would allow Clu and all programs escape to the real world and perfecting (or probably attacking) human beings. During the reunification, Sam told Kevin that he received a paging message from the gaming arcade, it was revealed that Kevin is not the one who sent out the message, but it was Clu to provoke Kevin coming out from his his hideout, exposing his identity disc. The story proceeds on Sam’s attempt to bring his father reaching the portal along with Quorra’s help with various intrigues by Clu and the programs. Sam, Kevin and Quorra eventually reach the portal only to find their presence is already expected by Clu. Clu seizes Kevin to bring him back to the Grid while sending Sam and Quorra to the portal. Having Kevin in his hand, Clu also seizes Kevin’s identity disc and is horrified to find out that it had been switched with Quorra’s. Clu then returns to chase after Sam and Quorra, but Kevin uses his powers as a program user and creator to hold Clu back, and ultimately sacrifices himself by re-integrating with Clu. The two merge and explode as Sam and Quorra transport through the portal back to the real world.

Jeff Bridges as both Kevin Flynn and Clu
Having seen the movie, I have to say that just like Avatar, the storyline is somehow not made as good as it could have been with some plot holes and the characters get lost amidst the state-of-the-art production design. And because of the moderate script writing, I once thought that it is a kind of movie that could not win the Academy Award and, it is an ironic fact to tell after I found out that the original Tron actually earned an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design and the lead actor, Jeff Bridges, won an Oscar last year. However, the real deal of is the technology used to produce the movie.  In the original Tron,

Futuristic wardrobe design on Tron: Legacy
Jeff Bridges is scanned by a laser and teleported to the digital world. Appropriately, the wardrobe worn by the casts was design in much the same way. Each actor underwent an entire body scan and the suits are generated in the computer to create a perfect posture and body fit. To create glowing effects, the suits are electroluminescent lamps running through neoprene rubber and each cast carries battery pack on their back to power the lamp. Meanwhile, Jeff Bridges plays the protagonist character Kevin Flynn, who created antagonist Clu as a direct copy of his appearance. Now, it is very interesting because unlike Clu which is a program, Kevin Flynn is a biological human being which had disappeared for twenty years and he certainly aged. So in the movie, the 61-year-old Jeff Bridges portrays the old Kevin Flynn, and he also provides the facial expression and acting of Clu, then the creative and visual effect department uses Computer Generated Image (CGI) to de-age him to almost about 30 years old, a technology which is featured and could only be dreamed about in the original Tron back then.
 "I am preparing to lose another dime to watch the 3D version of this movie."
Tron: Legacy is recommendable as it is worth the penny to watch and it certainly will be a box office hit. Make no mistake to know that the movie director, Joseph Kosinski, studied architecture and is a professor assistant to a university where he helps student with 3D modeling and graphics, so I think he really puts a great deal amount of knowledge and creative ideas into this movie. Jeff Bridges also plays good as both a protagonist and antagonist character. But what scores in the end is that it is a creative piece of technology show case about how human and machine might be interacting in the future, with an undeniably great attempt on cutting-edge visual effects. The film is made with a captivating visual appeal to the eyes with its stylishly futuristic filming sets and fantastic work on the wardrobe design. It is also an orchestral score to the ears with a generous treat on 3D sound experience involving a lot of fusion electronic dance music. Despite the moderate story and not deeply explored character acting, I am preparing to lose another dime to watch the 3D version of this movie. Until the next posting, enjoy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

baca review orang dulu had..
pada recommend nonton versi biasanya aja
as i said kan, bosenin tp not bad

Hadi Sanjaya Sim said...

i see, visual effect di versi 2D uda ok bgt, mknya g expect versi 3D tuh bnr2 bgs. Wondering knp org2 prefer 2D..

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