TRON: Legacy

Visually amazing, no doubt, I recommend going to the cinema just for that. The soundtrack by Daft Punk is the other great thing. All the rest – the script, the performances – is rather average, and Garret Hedlund is awfully miscast as the protagonist, that guy doesn’t have a pinch of charisma. I don’t mind that the story is simple (you can see some attempts at depth, but they end up harming the film because they don’t work at all), but the way it is put together; there isn’t any gradual reveal of the reality of that cyberspace, like, for instance, it was very well done in Pandora last year. When Sam falls into the light, he doesn’t look particularly surprised, or even tries to find any answers, as a result, you never get to know the limits of that world, which makes it hard to root for the characters, because you get the feeling that if anything goes pear-shaped, the old creator Bridges will only have to push a button to make everything all right again. That sounds a bit too critical for a four-star rating, right? Just to be clear, TRON: Legacy is not a bad film, far from it. The reason I’m being critical is that this film only needs a few tweaks in the script to be a great gem comparable with Matrix. Fortunately, the lukewarm reception by the dear critics lowered my expectations significantly, so in the end I’m satisfied; I’d much rather watch another Tron sequel (and even with Kosinski behind the camera) than most of the upcoming comic-book adaptations (Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Thor, etc.). 80 % (12/18/2010)

The bearded Jeff can be nice. Computer Jeff is Guignol (almost like the Nordic model from the luxury perfume commercial in the lead role). To his detriment, Tron has a lot more Guignol in it than bearded men. As a visual story full of reflections and light contrasts, it is watchable, but unfortunately, in terms of the technical design there is only a pile of boring copies of real masters of imagination. Tron doesn't have one of his own, just the one on loan. And also not very luxuriant. But in this year's competition "pass", not "fail". P.S. Compared to the original film a fail in all categories, except the technical ones, of course. (12/10/2010)

A visually and atmospherically absolutely brilliant piece of work, and I firmly believe that similar to films like The Matrix a decade ago, this film will set the pace and trend for the next several years in terms of technical execution and creativity. It's all the more regrettable that, in terms of plot, it's essentially a banal fairy tale that fails to entertain on its own. If they had managed to attach at least an average story to the “stylized” framework, it could have been a milestone in world cinematography. As it is, it's just an advertisement for how far today's technology can go, while also being a challenge thrown at James Cameron or Zack Snyder. (05/29/2011)

An incredibly wonderful world full of three-dimensional images. A picture about art which is art in itself. This isn’t a typical family movie, even though it was made as one. This in fact goes hand in hand with the fact that Tron: Legacy as a thing created for the masses remained misunderstood by those very masses. And it bombed at the box office. It remains “just" an experimental work trying to link two worlds on both levels. Maybe it could achieved both, but despite the director’s skills, in some places he made mistakes and so he didn’t succeed in this. Too bad (digital Jeff will no longer look digital in a couple of years time. We’re getting close with the technology, but we still have some way to go). Even so, it left me with a feeling that no movie has left me with for a long time. Amazement, a cleansing experience (but different than with Cameron’s Avatar) in a world where 1982 turns into the present. In this case, 3D made sense. (01/20/2011)

"Old World in a new perspective, a carefree charmer in the lead role and Jeff Bridges in one of his career-defining roles. And on top of that, a perfect soundtrack by Daft Punk and Kosinski's otherworldly visuals from beginning to end. From an outdated classic that only a handful of enthusiasts appreciated, after thirty years it becomes a saga that could have boldly headed towards further sequels, despite fate and Disney ultimately wanting it differently. And I don't mind at all that the script quotes from numerous classic films, because the result, in the best sense of the word, was chewed up, spat out and left me astonished. One would immediately want to start searching for some suspicious-looking computer." (04/24/2011)