TRON: Legacy

Daring. Vivid. Brutally real. Visionary. Joseph Kosinski's dystopian debut pushes boundaries and defies convention, but once grasping our attention and fastening our eyes to the sleek fiction unfolding on the screen, we realize that this movie is more of a dated facade designed to rake in profits than it is the perspective-changing vision were were lured into watching.

Even the best of movies can be corrupted by even a few bad lines, or perhaps a few good lines that are poorly delivered. Needless to say, this was neither a dialogue-driven, nor a performance-driven film, to say the least. Garrett Hudland was less than perfect (almost unlikable, even) and even a respected actor like Jeff Bridges failed to deliver. "Crazy Heart" Jeff Bridges was infinitely more satisfying than "Tron: Legacy" Jeff Bridges. And while I'm sure Tron is a boost to Olivia Wilde's up-and-coming career, it certainly didn't boost her credibility as an actor. And don't get me started on Michael Sheen. He should just be ashamed of himself.

On the bright side, Daft Punk's music left nothing to be lacking. Bravo.

Not to discredit the whole movie, it did have a few redeeming aspects. The graphics were gorgeous, and the pure imagination of the movie was nearly astounding. It is quite unfortunate that once the "box" was thought outside of, the producers couldn't think of any better message than the stereotypical "bittersweet happy ending." No revelation of truth, no affirmation of the importance of family, no worthwhile message of any greater good. What a shameful waste.

Sadly, there's really nothing more to be said in this movie's defense.

On the whole, this is a "nice" movie. Beautiful, different, but unfortunately shallow. I give it a generous 7/10 on merit of the visual mastery, soundtrack, and imagination behind it.