Tron: Legacy is pure spectacle. It’s the reboot of the 80s film about a software guy who gets trapped in a computer world that he created. The new movie is a 3D extravaganza which isn’t meant to be digested, just enjoyed.
Sam (Garrett Hedlund) is orphaned at seven when his dad, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), gets stuck on the virtual grid he created. Only as far as Sam knows, he just went AWOL. Twenty years later, Sam checks out the abandoned and musty arcade Flynn worked out of and SURPRISE! Sam also gets sucked onto the grid! That’s as much plot as you really need. For the first half of the film I tried wrapping my head around the logistics and isotopes and confusing characters the way I might hunt for psychological nuance or complex political plots in other films. But trying to rationalize Tron is a futile exercise. So for the second half of the film, I just kicked back and joined the party.
Seeing Tron: Legacy in 3D is like going to a rave. If the rave had started at 730, there were no substances present and kids were sitting behind you. The robot-headed French beat-masters Daft Punk scored the entire film which pounds with intensity throughout. The futuristic costumes, the background; everything you see is a cavernous black except for the neon piping that adorns the characters’ duds (think glow-sticks). Martin Sheen pops into the party as the nightclub owner in a role that hints at David Bowie. And then, like Dorothy’s leap into Technicolor, there’s the 3D of it all which is admittedly trippy and awesome, even to someone like moi who isn’t a fangirl in the slightest.
Despite the wicked partay, the highlight of Tron was Jeff Bridges. Stuck on the Grid for so many “cycles”, he has become a Zen master and when someone ‘harshes his buzz’, the character of Kevin Flynn falls away and glimmers of the Dude appear. Amazing. I would buy a movie ticket just to see flickers of the Dude. The Dude plus a 3D party? Even better. So if you need a break from heavy-handed holiday dramas, check out Tron: Legacy for sheer entertainment value. In cinemas Friday December 17th.

By Zoe Shapiro