Tron Legacy

6 months ago, I saw the trailer of Tron Legacy and was mighty intrigued to say the least. As the months went by, I kept seeing the trailer over and over again and was quite exasperated with the goddam never ending wait. Finally, a couple of weeks back, the release date was announced as 17th December 2010 - coincidentally the same date, Avatar was released last year - coincidence I am sure. But Walt Disney recreates magic once again!!! The wait was well worth it I say.


Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a geek. A young geek in 1989 who has thought of the concept of WiFi way back in 1985. He is the founder of Emcon, a gaming company that has created many a wave over the past few years. Most importantly, he is the reason the organisation has fallen back on track and is a huge hit with the shareholders. Sadly, he loses his wife in suddenly and is survived by his only son Sam (Garret Hedlund) who he loves very very dearly. He now lives with his son and parents who are his support system. He also owns a gaming arcade that is called - surprise surprise - Flynn's . How predictable I say!!! Corny. But sweet. On a regular night, Flynn Senior, after putting Sam to bed, decides to go to the Arcade to check something out. He has promised Sam that he would unravel a particular mystery the next day. But he never returns. The mysterious disappearance doesn't go too well with the markets and Emcon stocks start to tumble. More importantly, Sam turns violent and then slowly but steadily into a recluse. Much to the disappointment of his father's closest aide – Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) - who is unable to explain the reason why Sam's father is not back home.

Twenty years down the line, Sam has grown up to be the major share holder of Emcon but least interested in who is running the company or where it is headed. He is a rebel without a cause. A loose cannonball whose single thrill in life is to make the people who are turning his organization into a money spinning machine look like jokers. And he does that quite successfully and quite frequently. After one such stunt, he returns home to his ever faithful mutt Marvin, only to find that Alan has made himself comfortable. He informs Sam about a page that he received from the Arcade. Surprisingly the arcade has been shut for 20 years. Sam pretends not to care but he cannot hold himself back. He gets there and finds a door that he didn’t know existed. A door that is about to open a Pandora’s Box in a manner of speaking. Fasten your seat belts at this stage for what is undeniably the ride of the year.

Super special effects, amazing make up and brilliant use of Computer Graphics make Tron Legacy a heady concoction not only for the fans of the game or the older movie but for anyone who get their thrills from action movies. Light Jets, Light Bikes ala Star War Light Sabres. The works. Have a joint before you walk into the theatre and you can be assured of the best trips in your lifetime. This has been a year for first time directors all the way and Joseph Kosinski joins the gang although he could do with a crash course on consistency. Like how can everything electronic at the arcade work perfectly after 20 years? A bit far fetched I say. What is surprising is that otherwise there is a level of attention to detail like the best directors would. Some obvious gaffes mar an otherwise nearly flawless execution of a classic.

Tron Legacy is Disney’s next franchise. I would refuse to believe that there are no sequels planned. It would be a waste of a fabulous idea. Don’t miss this one. Clearly a 7 on 10.

Signing off with best wishes – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers!!!! You may not hear from me for the next month as I embark on my one month vacation starting in under 3 hours from now. I just had to ensure that the Tron Legacy review is put up before I leave. And I will do my best to get a dekko @ TMK in Oz Time which would be ahead by about 4.5 hours from India and u may just about get the review on time. Will keep you posted on that one. Till then – keep watching movies!!!! Have a blast folks!!!!