Tron: Legacy

Tron: Legacy – Sam Flynn investigates an impossible message which has been sent by his father, Kevin Flynn, after he went missing 20 years before. Being transported into ‘The Grid’, Sam soon learns of his father’s fate and vows to bring him home safely. Unfortunately, ‘CLU’, who Kevin created in his own image, is now the leader of a dystopian society where humans (or ‘Users’) are the enemy. Now Sam, Kevin and ally Quorra must risk their lives if they are to survive and return to their own world.

Tron: Legacy (2010) – Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: PG

Running Length: 127 mins

Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde

Genre: Science Fiction, Drama

REVIEW: ‘TRON: LEGACY’

As the long-awaited sequel to the 1982 movie, ‘Tron’, ‘Tron: Legacy’ catches up with what has happened to Kevin Flynn since his first adventures on ‘The Grid’. He tells his young son, Sam, the stories and fills his imagination but when he disappears, Sam is left to make sense of everything by himself. As an adult, Sam struggles to take any responsibility and although his is the primary shareholder, he has no interest in his father’s company, Encom, other than playing a prank on the company once a year.

While the visuals and soundtrack of ‘Tron: Legacy’ are of a high calibre, the actual story is rather dull. Sam, as the movie’s protagonist, is arrogant but bland, being remarkably talented at ‘The Games’ when he is in ‘The Grid’ despite having no reason to be (unlike Kevin in the first movie who designed the system and could therefore manipulate it to his needs). There are several leaps of logic and unrealistic plot points which could be forgiven if the entertainment value was high, unfortunately the visuals are relied upon too heavily to make it interesting and there is a genuine feeling throughout of ‘style over substance’. Thankfully, Michael Sheen’s performance is a joy to watch but virtually everything else about this film is boring and while many fans of the original movie may wish to see the continuation of the adventure, it is unlikely to become a classic like its predecessor.

CONTENT: IS ‘TRON: LEGACY’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Much like the original movie, ‘Tron: Legacy’ features several deaths of incidental ‘programs’ (characters living on ‘The Grid’) which may be a little distressing for young kids. When he is first transported to ‘The Grid’, Sam is taken on board a prison ship. There is a very nervous prisoner on one side of him and on the other is a silent, hooded prisoner who growls at Sam when he tries to make conversation. When the ship lands, each prisoner is assigned to a particular place. When the nervous prisoner is assigned to ‘The Games’, he is clearly afraid and becomes even more agitated. He manages to break free and jumps off the top of the building shouting ‘erase me’. He is then killed by the rotating blades of a huge fan. There are also deaths from being hit by discs (in ‘The Games’), light cycles (futuristic style motorbikes) and other weapons. When any of the programs inside ‘The Grid’ are killed, they shatter like glass and often scream in pain. There is a very short moment when we are at the ‘End of the Line Club’ (around 1 – 2 seconds long) where a woman mourns someone’s death and is seen to be distraught as she holds the shards and dust of what used to be a living program.

Some of the action scenes are quite intense. After defeating a few opponents in ‘The Games’, Sam faces the deadly ‘Rinzla’. The ensuing battle lasts several minutes and as Rinzla is clearly a better opponent, Sam’s survival seems less and less likely. Later, there is a light cycle battle which pitches 2 teams of 5 against each another. This results in the majority of players being killed by crashing into barriers or by being hit by other cycles. One of the deaths towards the end of this scene could be a little distressing for some due to the actions of this character leading up to his death as they get a bit more screen time before meeting an unfortunate end

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘TRON: LEGACY’ FOR KIDS?

Sadly, while the original movie is considered by many to be a classic and with expectations of something similar for its sequel, ‘Tron: Legacy’ was somewhat of a disappointment. Fans of the original ‘Tron’ and those expecting a solid sci-fi action movie probably won’t get the film they are looking for. We feel that the content of this movie should be appropriate for kids aged 9 and over, however it is not a movie which has been targeted towards a younger audience and is therefore unlikely to be interesting enough to entertain kids under the age of 12.

• Violence: 3/5 (many ‘programs’ are killed and shown to suffer. There is no blood or gore but bodies are seen to shatter like glass. There are a couple of deaths where part of or all of the head is graphically blown away. One character is badly injured, having their arm chopped off, this is not gory and the injury, like others, is like shattered glass)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (a character sacrifices themself in order to ensure the safety of other characters)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the character of CLU is quite threatening and relentlessly pursues Sam, Kevin and Quorra with the intention of killing them)
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (when being prepared to enter ‘The Games’, Sam is undressed by 4 women who are all wearing tight fitted clothing. They remove all of his clothes and he is seen from a distance to be naked for about a second)
• Bad Language: 1/5
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of family, fighting for what is right, not accepting things at face value and protecting those who are weaker than you.

Words by Laura Record

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