Brent Rose
Managing Editor
A lot of Tron: Legacy reviews criticize the film for not having interesting characters or a well thought-out plot–and these are well-deserved criticisms. But what makes the Tron sequel great is that it isn’t preachy about its story. Tron knows what it is: a visually and auditorily stimulating roller coaster ride.
Unlike recent blockbusters, Tron doesn’t constantly remind you it’s got a complex story. Inception’s story was so convoluted with plot details that I stopped paying attention to what was happening on screen, and was instead forced to listen to every line of exposition. I felt like every character in Inception was secretly saying, “No, you have to understand this to get the film. Pay attention to everything I’m saying because it’s important.”
Tron not only cuts down on the chatter but also neglects to explain the fundamental principles of Tron’s digital universe, known as “The Grid.” Why do users bleed in The Grid? What is the blue booze programs are getting wasted on? Why does Kevin Flynn age in The Grid? What are the physical laws of The Grid? It doesn’t ask any of these questions–but really, who cares? Tron doesn’t make it a point for the audience to care about the plot. And if it did, then everyone would be caught up in the entanglement of dangling plot holes. All the little details are neglected, not for a lack of storytelling but because if the film explained every little detail like Avatar, then Tron would lose its fantastical appeal.
What makes Avatar unwatchable is the way James Cameron tried to shove down our throats how important the world of Pandora is, and why we should care. The film is so preachy it borders on Scientology recruitment video.
Eye Weekly’s Jason Anderson says in his review that “it all looks and sounds so gorgeous that it’s almost easy to forgive Tron: Legacy for having a storyline so slight, it makes Avatar seem like War and Peace.”
But isn’t that the point of cinema? To awe audiences with visual and audio brilliance? Do moviegoers today really want complex storytelling and heavy dialogue so bad that they rip fun films apart for having simple stories? And just because Avatar is a longer film with a lot of expository dialogue doesn’t make it complex like War and Peace, especially when compared to Tron.
It seems like a lot of directors like to take these simple films and make the story look more complex. Tron is stronger than recent action-adventure films, however, because it plays up its strongest attributes: its cinematography, special effects and soundtrack. Unlike Avatar, Inception and Transformers, Tron doesn’t try to fix its one-dimensional characters and weak story by giving them more predominance.
Tron: Legacy’s humble nature is such a relief because it doesn’t force me to care–instead I can sit back, relax and enjoy the entertainment.
Thinking about things is so hard. Thanks for standing up for simple, honest ignorance! And while we’re at it, we should get rid of all the allusions to current events that are showing up in movies these days! They’re such downers. I mean, stop making comments on the war in Iraq or stuff like that. Politicians can deal with that stuff. People just want to get a good hour and a half of explosions, maybe five minutes of sex, and, like, a car chase to round things off. Is that such an ignoble goal? I thank God for directors like Michael Bay who get it and don’t bother trying to make statements or complicate everything. Every other director should do what Michael Bay does.