A childish view on film: a review of TRON:LEGACY.
Okay, okay, so I'm WAY off the boat on this one. I mean, Tron is available on Netflix (where I saw it) and it is not remotely in theaters or anyone's consciousness; so why bother writing? I get it. I'm about three days late for a fifteen minute meeting; but there is something still timely to say, so bear with me.
I first saw Tron, the real version, when I was about 7 or 8 on a Betamax rental from World Video in 1984 or '85. I think I was a little in love with Bruce Boxleitner (though I didn't even have any hormones yet) and I thought the idea of being stuck in a video game the coolest thing anyone could think of. So that brings me to my review of the movie: Tron: Legacy.
It was completely stupid and totally awesome at the same time. How is that possible? simple: you weigh your adult mind with your childlike sense of "cool".
'Tron: Legacy' is, by all accounts, totally stupid. It's about a young man who finds himself transported into the remnants of a 1980's video game to find his father who was trapped inside of it in 1989. The plot is a stretch to say the least about weird digitron people who can save the world from disease and a cloned digitized self of the creator who turns on his original to claim dominion over the world the film is based in.
But this is where Tron: Legacy is also totally cool. It is based in the film world of the 1982 version, which is a video game run wild. Where you can actually be killed by space invaders and the neon flows aplenty. Watching this film, for me, is like stepping back in time. I mean, yes, Bruce, my man (Mr. Scarecrow) is very old as is Jeff Bridges; but who cares, right?-- They're both in it to represent the old times, which is why we're all watching to begin with, isn't it?
This movie is further proof that my generation is taking over Hollywood. If 'Transformers' and 'G.I. Joe' and a horrible newest version of 'Indiana Jones' weren't enough, they're remaking 'Tron' and 'Knight Rider' and 'Beverly Hills 90210'. For those of you not in my generation, you will probably like this movie (because, we'll assume for argument's sake you are younger than I) for the same reasons I loved it when I was 9: it's a plotless 'cool' video game with cool fights with some sort of version of a Frisbee and it's got neon... I mean NEON, for pete's sake!
If you are older than I, I pity you. There is no more point in seeing this movie than there is getting a root canal on a perfectly healthy tooth.
I know what you're all thinking now... 'Aren't you a big hypocrite in not seeing REAL STEAL but willingly taking your free time in watching TRON?' and the answer, my friends, is a simple as the power of films is. Film and media and television has such a great impact in our lives in it's ability to transfer images, indelible images to our minds which leave behind emotional responses. It's like a dream that had when you were 10 and can now download to your i-mac. Wouldn't you want to watch that dream?
Movies like Tron have an imagery smeared on my brain from when I was a child. Real Steel does not. Capiche? And THAT is the power of media (Sesame Street anyone? Go ahead, sing the theme song in your head as you read the rest of this) and THAT is why some movies which are great don't make any money and movies which are pointless ('Tron: Legacy' for one) can recoup their return. It is why there have been countless remakes and updates of "Charlie's Angels" but none of "Citizen Kane": sense-memory of a time and place.
It is not only a sad reality of media it is also it's quietest power. Let's just hope that the next generation of 9 year-old's can see something stick in their mind for decades more important than cyber motorcycles race around on 'the grid'-- a powerful and basic version of the operating system of an Apple 2E; even though it IS pretty awesome. Now go gag me with a spoon why don't you.
I first saw Tron, the real version, when I was about 7 or 8 on a Betamax rental from World Video in 1984 or '85. I think I was a little in love with Bruce Boxleitner (though I didn't even have any hormones yet) and I thought the idea of being stuck in a video game the coolest thing anyone could think of. So that brings me to my review of the movie: Tron: Legacy.
It was completely stupid and totally awesome at the same time. How is that possible? simple: you weigh your adult mind with your childlike sense of "cool".
'Tron: Legacy' is, by all accounts, totally stupid. It's about a young man who finds himself transported into the remnants of a 1980's video game to find his father who was trapped inside of it in 1989. The plot is a stretch to say the least about weird digitron people who can save the world from disease and a cloned digitized self of the creator who turns on his original to claim dominion over the world the film is based in.
But this is where Tron: Legacy is also totally cool. It is based in the film world of the 1982 version, which is a video game run wild. Where you can actually be killed by space invaders and the neon flows aplenty. Watching this film, for me, is like stepping back in time. I mean, yes, Bruce, my man (Mr. Scarecrow) is very old as is Jeff Bridges; but who cares, right?-- They're both in it to represent the old times, which is why we're all watching to begin with, isn't it?
This movie is further proof that my generation is taking over Hollywood. If 'Transformers' and 'G.I. Joe' and a horrible newest version of 'Indiana Jones' weren't enough, they're remaking 'Tron' and 'Knight Rider' and 'Beverly Hills 90210'. For those of you not in my generation, you will probably like this movie (because, we'll assume for argument's sake you are younger than I) for the same reasons I loved it when I was 9: it's a plotless 'cool' video game with cool fights with some sort of version of a Frisbee and it's got neon... I mean NEON, for pete's sake!
If you are older than I, I pity you. There is no more point in seeing this movie than there is getting a root canal on a perfectly healthy tooth.
I know what you're all thinking now... 'Aren't you a big hypocrite in not seeing REAL STEAL but willingly taking your free time in watching TRON?' and the answer, my friends, is a simple as the power of films is. Film and media and television has such a great impact in our lives in it's ability to transfer images, indelible images to our minds which leave behind emotional responses. It's like a dream that had when you were 10 and can now download to your i-mac. Wouldn't you want to watch that dream?
Movies like Tron have an imagery smeared on my brain from when I was a child. Real Steel does not. Capiche? And THAT is the power of media (Sesame Street anyone? Go ahead, sing the theme song in your head as you read the rest of this) and THAT is why some movies which are great don't make any money and movies which are pointless ('Tron: Legacy' for one) can recoup their return. It is why there have been countless remakes and updates of "Charlie's Angels" but none of "Citizen Kane": sense-memory of a time and place.
It is not only a sad reality of media it is also it's quietest power. Let's just hope that the next generation of 9 year-old's can see something stick in their mind for decades more important than cyber motorcycles race around on 'the grid'-- a powerful and basic version of the operating system of an Apple 2E; even though it IS pretty awesome. Now go gag me with a spoon why don't you.
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