Tron

by Racheal Rauch

Let me start by saying that I don?t hate Sci ? Fi, I actually don?t mind the genre. I liked The Matrix, War of the Worlds and others. I should also add that I was very tired when watching this film so maybe that?s why I so badly wanted to sleep through it. With that in mind ? I didn?t really like Tron. That is me toning down my opinion. I also know a lot of people liked and/or will like Tron, I?m just not one of them. The upside to this film is that my experience was IMAX, 3D, free, preview screening, I was with good company and the special Disney credit at the start was cool. That?s about it.

The non eye-candy Sam, is lured to his missing Dad?s old arcade business, when he gets a page from there and goes to investigate. That in itself doesn?t make sense ? if it?s such a developed world, where humans can travel into computer games, why are they still bothering with pages?! Sam accidentally gets his body zapped into the game land of Tron and finds his dad who has been trapped there by the evil Clu. Clu is his dad?s rogue double and rules the land of Tron. As you do. Olivia Wilde stars as the sexy side kick, who drives a Batmobile. She enjoys kicking butt and making big eyes at any one in a 5 mile radius.

Tron 101 ? There are three types of beings in this film (I think). Users are humans, Programs, are non human soldiers and Natives are um??. things which look like humans, but aren?t, and Clu tried to kill them. To be quite honest I didn?t get most of the film. I have an average knowledge of computer stuff, but most of this went over my head. It just doesn?t make sense. Like The Matrix I get ? your body gets plugged into something and your mind goes somewhere else. In Tron, your body goes into computer land, like as in your body leaves Earth and goes into the game of Tron. There?s a fair bit of talk about algorithms and grids and computer lingo, none of which I got. But from what I gather, in Tron, lies the chase of perfectness and the chance to improve the Human Condition. If someone could elaborate on this for me go ahead. How exactly does getting zapped into a computer game, building it up from the inside, stop world hunger in the real planet Earth?

In the land of Tron, everyone walks around with these discs on their backs which are apparently really important. Everyone?s trying to nick everyone?s else?s, swap them here there and everywhere. The disc business seems highly impractical, like are they attached to your clothing, so that when you get undressed you are detached from it? Or do you sleep with them? Cause that?s uncomfortable. The discs can apparently bounce of glass but also smash it to a zillion pieces. How does the disc know when it?s meant to smash or bounce? Anyways moving along.

What really bugged me was the script. Not only was it predictable, following the heroes journey exactly, it was so standard new-age Hollywood. It goes something like this: a small bout of action is followed by a close up on the actor, who in a deep sexy voice says some ultra cheesy like ?oh you gotta be kiddin me?. Repeat heaps and amp up the cheesiness.

As pretty much everyone knows Daft Pank did the soundtrack so the score goes ok. In one scene, I?m completely confused with why the apparent good-guy-on-crack turned on them and everybody starts shooting everybody up but it?s set in a club ? so the music was pumping and was the saving grace to an otherwise totally bizarre scene.

I pretty much jumped for joy, when they made it back to Earth, not because I cared who won, or was safe or whatever but just so I could see the sun again. I was so over the bleak landscape. A four year old could follow this film very easily. Tron is a dark place. Everything goodish is blue and white. Everything bad or irregular is orange. It was boring to look at. Yes it was super cool and sleak and everyone wears Neon but I can go to any festival or Supre store and see a whole rainbow of fluro colours not just orange and blue.

It felt like it was an excuse for Disney to show off some cool special effects and give some die hard fans a treat, rather than tell an emotionally engaging story, or even where we learn something. I could try and force some meaning out of the film, like value your kids, appreciate our world, or something but that would be pushing it. The real problem is that I don?t connect with any of the characters in the film. I don?t have a dad locked in a computer game, I?m not hanging out for the day when I can go play with Mario, there was no emotional connection to anything. I just didn?t care. And if I don?t care about anything I?m watching then it?s game over.

For more: http://rauch.blog.com/