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elementalhero) wrote2010-12-19 10:30 pm
elementalhero) wrote2010-12-19 10:30 pm
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TRON: Legacy
I have very mixed feelings about this movie.
Is it just me, or were there only about three black characters in the entire movie, all of whom either died or were just kind of scenery? Am I the only one who got that kind of vibe? Also, the only main female character existed to be a MacGuffin, the other prominent female character was a traitor who didn't even get any good lines and was treated basically as a convenient piece of scenery by her only ally. This movie did not pass the Bechdel Test. Was there a really important reason for Sam being a guy? It would have been a more interesting movie if he was a girl, I think. And if the answer is, "then there would be no romance subplot," change Quorra into a male character! Or let them have some Les Yay! It's not like Sam's actor was particularly talented (he wasn't), or his dialogue was particularly well-written (it wasn't).
And don't get me started on the shitstorm that was Tron's role in this movie; I have some major problems with the writing fumble on that one. Why did they only show his face in the flashbacks? I get that his identity was secret for a long time to hide that he was still alive and "rectified," but after Kevin goes, "TRON'S ALIVE," we spend another ten minutes after what should be a stunning revelation completely forgetting that he's there. Then, every time he shows up after that, his stupid helmet is still on. It didn't even come off when he broke his programming and protected everyone and fell in the water! WHAT?? He was drifting down into the black of the digital ocean after crashing out of a light plabe; they couldn't possibly have had his helmet break off for a final shot of his face? That is bullshit. Bull-shit. So badly handled.
Jeff Bridges was unintentionally hilarious, though, so there is that. Clu was kind of a boring character, though, I have to be honest. I think it's because he had little to no real ~presence~ as a villain, the way similar computer programs in other movies had ~presence~, like Hal from 2001 or GlaDoS from Portal. Although I actually liked the subtle Uncanny Valley effect of the CGI they did to make him look like a younger Jeff Bridges, I think it worked with his character.
It's not that this movie wasn't entertaining, because it was. The special effects porn, ungh. Two words: LIGHT PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANES OH MY GOD. (okay, five words.) The music was A+, too. DAFT PUNK ♥ And there's a scene in an old arcade with blaring eighties music that about made my soul explode in hearts.
The thing about this movie is, the first half-hour to hour really feels like they're setting us up for something amazing. They had so many early plot threads that they left hanging. Dillinger's son? WHY WOULD YOU WASTE BEARDY CILLIAN MURPHY LIKE THAT??? THAT IS A CARDINAL SIN. The Encom corporation and the OS12? Affected nothing of the actual plot. Honestly, it felt like they filmed the first hour and a half, realized "oh shit, we have to wrap this up somehow," and made up an entirely new plot, stuck some blatant foreshadowing in the opening scene to make it less "left-fieldy" and then rushed the last half-hour. Also, the ending didn't make any sense. What was so important about the ISOs? Quorra didn't look any different from regular humans when she got out; how was she supposed to affect THE ENTIRE WORLD on an other-than-philosophical level? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Also, Quorra was a much more engaging character in the first ten minutes of her appearance, and then all her cute dialogue vanished as soon as she suddenly had to facilitate Sam's escape to the portal. And as soon as we found out she was an ISO, her personality vanished entirely. It made me angry. As soon as the girl became a MacGuffin, she was instantly nothing more to the story than an object to be delivered to a place by a time. Just. RRgh.
Also, is Tron still alive? We never see him de-rez, and it looks like we're supposed to ASSUME he's alive, but then Jeff Bridges blows up everything at the end. Like, seriously, what? What are we supposed to get out of that ending? IT MADE NO. SENSE.
But it was pretty.
Is it just me, or were there only about three black characters in the entire movie, all of whom either died or were just kind of scenery? Am I the only one who got that kind of vibe? Also, the only main female character existed to be a MacGuffin, the other prominent female character was a traitor who didn't even get any good lines and was treated basically as a convenient piece of scenery by her only ally. This movie did not pass the Bechdel Test. Was there a really important reason for Sam being a guy? It would have been a more interesting movie if he was a girl, I think. And if the answer is, "then there would be no romance subplot," change Quorra into a male character! Or let them have some Les Yay! It's not like Sam's actor was particularly talented (he wasn't), or his dialogue was particularly well-written (it wasn't).
And don't get me started on the shitstorm that was Tron's role in this movie; I have some major problems with the writing fumble on that one. Why did they only show his face in the flashbacks? I get that his identity was secret for a long time to hide that he was still alive and "rectified," but after Kevin goes, "TRON'S ALIVE," we spend another ten minutes after what should be a stunning revelation completely forgetting that he's there. Then, every time he shows up after that, his stupid helmet is still on. It didn't even come off when he broke his programming and protected everyone and fell in the water! WHAT?? He was drifting down into the black of the digital ocean after crashing out of a light plabe; they couldn't possibly have had his helmet break off for a final shot of his face? That is bullshit. Bull-shit. So badly handled.
Jeff Bridges was unintentionally hilarious, though, so there is that. Clu was kind of a boring character, though, I have to be honest. I think it's because he had little to no real ~presence~ as a villain, the way similar computer programs in other movies had ~presence~, like Hal from 2001 or GlaDoS from Portal. Although I actually liked the subtle Uncanny Valley effect of the CGI they did to make him look like a younger Jeff Bridges, I think it worked with his character.
It's not that this movie wasn't entertaining, because it was. The special effects porn, ungh. Two words: LIGHT PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANES OH MY GOD. (okay, five words.) The music was A+, too. DAFT PUNK ♥ And there's a scene in an old arcade with blaring eighties music that about made my soul explode in hearts.
The thing about this movie is, the first half-hour to hour really feels like they're setting us up for something amazing. They had so many early plot threads that they left hanging. Dillinger's son? WHY WOULD YOU WASTE BEARDY CILLIAN MURPHY LIKE THAT??? THAT IS A CARDINAL SIN. The Encom corporation and the OS12? Affected nothing of the actual plot. Honestly, it felt like they filmed the first hour and a half, realized "oh shit, we have to wrap this up somehow," and made up an entirely new plot, stuck some blatant foreshadowing in the opening scene to make it less "left-fieldy" and then rushed the last half-hour. Also, the ending didn't make any sense. What was so important about the ISOs? Quorra didn't look any different from regular humans when she got out; how was she supposed to affect THE ENTIRE WORLD on an other-than-philosophical level? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Also, Quorra was a much more engaging character in the first ten minutes of her appearance, and then all her cute dialogue vanished as soon as she suddenly had to facilitate Sam's escape to the portal. And as soon as we found out she was an ISO, her personality vanished entirely. It made me angry. As soon as the girl became a MacGuffin, she was instantly nothing more to the story than an object to be delivered to a place by a time. Just. RRgh.
Also, is Tron still alive? We never see him de-rez, and it looks like we're supposed to ASSUME he's alive, but then Jeff Bridges blows up everything at the end. Like, seriously, what? What are we supposed to get out of that ending? IT MADE NO. SENSE.
But it was pretty.
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But still. FACE. :/ And he should have had way more lines. The dang movie's got his name in the title, after all.