If you read our own Tron Legacy review yesterday, you’ll know we thought Disney’s new SFX epic was the most exciting film for gadget fans all year, but we’re all for others having their own opinion, not that CLU would agree. What did the film buffs make of it? Read on and find out in our Tron Legacy review roundup.
The Guardian‘s Steve Rose seemed to go in with the right approach for a film with a story he describes as “bonkers”, and only worth of a 3/5 score. He expect nothing, and as a result Rose still came away impressed with Tron Legacy, if only because the visual effects make the movie seem like an “extended Daft Punk video, perhaps, or a computer simulation of Bridges’ inner turmoil since he won his Oscar last year.” He wasn’t quite so taken with the story, labelling it “fatally impenetrable and forgettable”. But at least with all those whizzy lights, it’s “the best kind of bonkers.”
Total Film‘s Jonathan Crocker was mesmerised by the mis en scene, and spared praise for the softly done 3D “stereoscopic dazzle….(It) barely needs it.” The Grid is in Crocker’s words, “a fearful, magnificent world of dark space, reflective surface and searing light. It’s stunning, seductive and uniquely Tron…(and) Daft Punk’s score paints its own sombre, synthy soundscapes.” He too though was baffled and disappointed by the story: “Kosinski (The director) touches on more themes than he ever knows what to do with…Even hardcore Tron-heads will be scratching scalp at certain points.” His verdict? “A film that awes and bores in frustratingly equal measure”.
Read our Tron Legacy review now
IGN meanwhile stood out in actually criticising the special effects, even if overall the site found it to be “a thrilling, moving 3D adventure that will leave you wanting more.” The problem? CLU, the bad guy/software, played by Jeff Bridges with aid to make him look decades younger, looks false. “The effects just aren’t quite there yet to fully justify the idea,” wrote IGN’s Matt Fowler, flagging up “the dead eyes and the overly reflective cheek bones”. Once again, the issue of nonsensical story came up, with some of the blame being pinned on Lost writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz “who know their ‘daddy issues’ for sure”. But Fowler savours simple pleasures: “I’m not afraid to admit that, as completely muddled and incomprehensible as modern action sequences have become, I enjoyed the fact that our heroes and villains were color-coded.”
Verdict
It’s clear that the question for most people isn’t whether you’ll enjoy the absurd story in Tron Legacy, but whether you can overlook it. Looking for an action spectacular with high octane light bike sequences? Tron Legacy will suit you down to the ground. Want your metaphors to mean something? Get thee to an arthouse movie instead.
