TRON: Legacy 3D (slight spoilers) (18th December 2010)
Just my 3rd visit to the cinema as a grown-up. Would love to rave about this but my hopes were so high. Has a fairly cliché storyline and dumbed-down script. The cyber action sequences and CGI sets were super cool, with amazing detail. Not a classic but I enjoyed it!
More female characters add some sparkle and love interest. Favourite vehicles are either present or re-invented. Some cool new ones towards the end. Some familiar characters return and all-new ones are introduced, too…
Saw it at the Odeon on Tottenham Court Road, which was a very expensive choice. The 2D version would probably be adequate, if you can find it anywhere. The 3D parts are quite a sight, particularly as I hadn’t seen a modern one so far.
Film started after it’s showtime by about 20 minutes due to adverts – many of which did 3D better than the film! They threw stuff in the audience’s face from time. Just seems a bit obnoxious.
Gripes are easy to write about. The cinema is still a fun event.
Better Than I First Thought (31st December 2010)
Wow, this is actually a great/awesome movie and I recommend it to any sci-fi fan. Saw it for the 2nd time, this time in a Vue cinema but again in 3D. A large amount of it is 3D, I was just getting so accustommed to the depth that it looked normal!
- There was a touch more depth than I picked up the first time.
- The visuals take turns at being clinical, breathtaking and beautiful.
- The pace is fast but varies. I could catch my breath without getting bored.
- The awkward bits were alright the 2nd time.
- Performances from the actors are, by and large, excellent.
On the last point: with the exception of the family Flynn, everything on ‘the grid’ is a program, function or the new thing. (Oooh, you’ll have to go see to find out what that is.) It’s rare to find a film where actors make those cybernetic roles seem plausible, systemmatic and yet emotional.
Movies from The Matrix and The Terminator franchises make nearly all the manufactured entities into wooden automatons or characatures. Which is fine, for those worlds. TRON: Legacy lets them live and breathe, feel and emote. Just like the original did – maybe more so.