Tron (1982) Spoiler-Filled Review/Rant: Groundbreaking Visuals Stuck In A Bland Movie

With news of a Jared Leto-led "Tron" sequel being in development at Disney, I felt that it was time for me to finally watch the movies. I knew that the first film was a beloved classic with groundbreaking CGI and thought that this might be a good watch. Little did I know that this movie was actually a steaming pile of crap disguised with a cool aesthetic...

Positives:

• The effects, which is what can be described as the saving grace of the movie. Not only was the CGI groundbreaking at the time, but the use of 2D animation and matte paintings are very impressive and blend into the distinct environment the film creates. Sure, the CGI is pretty dated, but the effects shouldn't be looked down upon whatsoever.

• The set designs and colourful world. While a lot of the film uses green-screen, there are times where a set is created and given some added effects to make it look apart of the world, which looks really good. There is the issue that everything looks the same and that there's no distinction between locations or environments, but the world is so visually creative that it does distract you from asking that question throughout the film. I also liked the shot of the ENCOM helicopter with its red colours blending in the night sky. The games that the combatants have to play such as the light cycles and ring battles are creative in their own right and lent to inspired arcade games.

Negatives:

• Let's start with the story. Kevin Flynn used to be a programmer in the company known as ENCOM, where his boss stole Flynn's ideas for video games and took credit for the success. Flynn, along with his friends, attempt to hack into the database in order to find the evidence he needs, but the evil program known as the MCP sends him inside the digital world. As Flynn attempts to escape, he is joined up by Tron, a security program that was made by his friend who is destined to take down the MCP and free the world from its control. The problem with the story is that it's both really generic and all over the place. You can tell that Disney was trying to make their own version of "Star Wars" before they would buy the franchise decades later. From your typical chosen one story to the evil force that's dictating over the system to the sci-fi technology, it's really attempting to be like "Star Wars". However, the story is also incoherent at times. Flynn went from trying to find the file he needs to prove his worth to needing to escape the digital landscape. You think that he would have to be the one to destroy the MCP, seeing that he's not only the main character, but a user who are the gods to the programs. But, no! Tron is the one who needs to take down the MCP, leaving Flynn to just doing his own thing until the story needs him to be relevant. What also sucks is that the film never shows us what's going on back in the real world with the CEO and Flynn's friends. When Flynn comes back in the end, it's clear that he's been in the digital world for the entire night, but we never see his friends react or even do anything that affects the digital world during the movie. I understand that the filmmakers wanted us to be very invested in the world they created, but we also need to know what's happening to the other characters in the real world as they are still on a mission of their own. It doesn't help that the story is mainly fuelled by luck most of the time mainly with Flynn just so happening to stumble into the right place at the right time in multiple instances throughout the film.

• If the story has the typical basis of "Star Wars", the characters straight up copies the famous leads from the franchise. Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, is a cocky, one-lining, spewing dude who not only looks like Han Solo, but basically acts like him too, even copying the character's role as a sort of sidekick to the lead who doesn't really offer much to the plot. Tron, played by Bruce Boxleitner, is supposed to be the Luke Skywalker of the film, but he doesn't have an interesting personality and barely shares time with Flynn. He's just made to be the typical hero for the film and the world. The Leia Organa role is filled by Yori, played by Cindy Morgan. Yori is by far the blandest character of the film as she just serves as the girl character who is only there for the main character to ogle at, which I will get to in a later point. The silly-looking Dumont, played by Barnard Hughes, looks a lot like Obi-Wan, but is there to act as another ally for Tron. Sark, played by David Warner, is clearly meant to be the Grand Moff Tarken as he fills the second-in-command role to the hilarious, derpy-looking MCP. Ram, played by Roy Kleinberg, is just there to have a friend for Flynn in the system and to have a death scene that makes no sense at all time-wise. There are the human characters played by the established actors such as Alan, Lora, Walter and Ed, but they might as well not be in the film. The love triangle between Alan, Flynn and Lora is only there so that it can be used in the digital landscape, Walter is just there to establish the laser that is used to send Flynn to the digital world, and Ed barely does anything as the evil CEO of ENCOM and his realization that the MCP is hacking into the Pentagon and the Kremlin goes absolutely nowhere in the story. As you can see, these characters are just archetypes to push the story and sub-plots are just thrown in to add shallow-level details for the story. It also doesn't help that the acting is just awful. While Bridges and Warner are doing their best bringing some character in generic roles, the others really aren't trying in their material.

• The weird tone. Much like "Star Wars", the film attempts to have this action-sci-fi adventure with stakes while also making it fun for the whole family. The issue with the tone is that I can't take it serious nor find it funny at all as the film never takes itself serious to begin with and it tries way too hard to be funny, even more so than "Star Wars". From the MCP's ridiculous design to Flynn's cocky attitude to the awkward acting to moments in the action where bad guys literally kill themselves in order to not fight Tron, the film almost acts as a satire at times. However, the story is supposed to be serious in nature, resulting in a messy, unbalanced tone that doesn't get you invested in the lore and the only humour it delivers is unintentional.

• The directing from Steven Lisberger. To be fair, Lisberger did a decent job for this kind of film, but it doesn't excuse some lazy filmmaking. Not only are there some shots ripped out from the aforementioned "Star Wars", especially the opening scene from that film, but there's also a lot of awkward editing. The opening credits seem like they will lead to a cool shot of the city, but it just skips right to Flynn's Arcade, mainly due to the lack of ambition. It doesn't help that a lot of the cinematography is pretty standard and flat with a lot of medium-shots with the characters in the middle of the scene. I know that the film is mainly all green-screen, but there needs to be more variety.  The action is also very bland and uncreative, outside of the game sequences. It doesn't help that for some random reason, there's no music during the action scenes, making it more hollow than necessary. The costume design is also really silly as the costumes look really soft and cloth-like for a supposed metal-like shell. Dumont's first apperance is just laughable as he's just stuck in a giant foam block. There's a bit of charm to be had in the costume design, but it gets to the point where you ask why bother, as the sequel even ditches the costumes and cosmetics of the programs from the first film to make it easier on them.

• The music by Wendy Carlos. I really wanted to like the music as Carlos made a great soundtrack for "The Shining", but it doesn't really stand out much. Half of the music sound very John Williams-esque, which makes it seem like it's just imitating "Star Wars". The other half does lean into the techno/video game aesthetic that the film is trying to get across, but it sounds a bit generic. The only pieces from the score that sound really good to listen to is "Anthem" and the music that plays during the end credits. Even the main theme feels underwhelming to listen to.

• Behold! The most unearned kiss in movie history with Yori and Flynn. Where to even begin with this awful romance? Well, for one, the characters only meet by the beginning of the third act, where they not only have any chemistry, but only find each other attractive for different reasons. For Flynn, Yori resembles his ex-girlfriend, Lora. For Yori, it's mainly due to the fact that Flynn is a user. There's also the fact that Yori is established to very much be in love with Tron. So, the group gets separated with Tron going to stop the MCP and Flynn and Yori being held captive. When Yori and Flynn manage to escape, Flynn has the idea to jump into the MCP as he might be able to give Tron the opening to destroy the program. Since this is set up as a heroic sacrifice, the two kiss after barely knowing each other with a lack of chemistry and having just met literally ten minutes ago. What's worse is that after the MCP is defeated and Flynn goes back to the real world, Yori goes to kiss Tron, ignoring the fact that for a bit of the runtime, she basically cheated on him with Flynn. This romance is so lazily-handled that it seems I'm making it up just to hate on the movie. But, this romantic sub-plot is actually in the movie! The only reason why I think they went with this bizarre love triangle is perhaps because, once again, Star Wars did it with Leia, Luke, and Han. However, that movie at least made it so that Leia kissing Luke was out of spite and to make Han envious, where with the kiss with Yori and Flynn is just so the movie can have the big dramatic kiss scene despite there was no established romance with the two to begin with!

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into with this movie. "Tron" is a classic that's only remembered for visuals alone with an extremely pathetic screenplay bogging the reputation of the cult hit. While the effects are great and well-deserved to be acknowledged, the digital world is distinctly creative and visualized, and there's a few pieces of music that's very nice to listen to, that's all that I can say that must be praised. Everything else is an embarrassing attempt to imitate "Star Wars" that it makes the film have, outside of the visuals' to have an empty husk for an identity. From a random, generic, incoherent story that's relayed on luck, a tone that's more awkwardly funny than epic or fun, characters that are extremely generic and only serve archetype roles or to slightly advance the story, bland acting with Bridges and Turner being the only competent actors in the film, lazy directing from Lisberger, some awkward editing, flat cinematography, silly costume design, unimaginative action, really underwhelming score by Carlos, and one of, if not, the worst on-screen romances and kiss I have ever seen in film history. I don't understand how some people can find the lore or story interesting or unique, despite being so clearly piggybacking the success that is "Star Wars". While the film does have credit for creating some groundbreaking CGI along with a pretty creative and distinct world, the actual story, characters, and filmmaking comes across as lazy or copying the formula from a popular sci-fi franchise.

Verdict: 3/10. The definition of eye candy with no substance. If you want a visually groundbreaking film with an engaging story and characters, just watch "Star Wars" as this movie is just so clearly trying to be like it that it completely ruins itself in the process.