The Movie Club

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Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is the 4^th film in the tween romantic fantasy Twilight saga directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel by executive producer Stephenie Meyer.

Plot

 We meet Jacob (played by Taylor Lautner) when he receives and invitation to Belle Swan and Edward Cullen’s wedding (played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson respectively). Following an angst inspired topless werewolf transformation, we are a part of said celebrations. We then travel to a private island off the coast of Brazil for the happy couple's honeymoon, where the two differing species cautiously attempt to consummate their marriage. Soon however, Belle is convinced she is pregnant, something that Vampire husband Edward didn’t even believe was possible, where wackiness ensues…….

Review

The Twilight Saga has always gained the ire of generations X’s, probably to the confusion of current Tweens. Vampires and such fantasy creatures were always served up in straight horror films, with villains showing uncontrollable sexual urges, preying on virginial characters, usually to be slain by the straight-shooting leading man. The Lost Boys is a fantastic movie which first successfully combined the vampire with teenagers: sleeping all day, partying all night, dressing in black leather and sunglasses, and being cool and young forever. We then had Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, which explained to a generation the reality of being an immortal; forced to live forever, outliving loved ones, forever feeding on blood and never being able to see the sun. That doesn’t stop Christian Slater’s journalist’s pursuit of Rock-God Lestat, who advises Christian’s character of making this choice, complete with sunglasses while taking control of a convertible and playing the Rolling Stone’s Sympathy for the Devil (on a cassette!).

Such was this advancement in vampire lore, that it is not surprising that Gen-X was given Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a play on the last girl staple, Buffy was a sexually confident alpha female, taking the fight to the vampires backyards (albeit grave-yards). Buffy’s escapades and romances were quite comedic, but also surprisingly violent and horrific: characters were killed off, vampires where described as demons and got up to horrible acts, and sometimes even Buffy made serious mistakes, lakes in judgement or complete character changes. After Buffy and fantastic spin-off Angel  (a vampire searching for his soul) ended, a slew of popular teenage novels filled the void, and it was only a matter of time for the vampire to rise again.

It may have been a shock and\or a disappointment for lovers of Gen X vampires then, that the re-imagining of the Vampire Lore would be so steeped in Romeo and Juliet romance; where vampires ‘sparkle’ in the overcast day, and werewolves transform from large, hairy wolves to hairless, muscle-bound tweens. Here we have emasculated, non-threatening males turning into creatures of the night, doing battle for the affections of an 18 year old girl, and Buffy she ain’t.

Belle is lead into the warring world of lycans and vampires not due to any sort of oath or life mission to rid the world of evil. Belle is simply following her heart, come-what-may, with extremely traditional and some-may-say sexist ideals. Is Belle a weak-willed woman, simply a pawn in a man’s world as she risks life and limb to be with the man that she loves, or is she a female powerhouse for doing the exact same thing: being strong enough to endure the possibility of death to achieve what her heart desires?

Written from a mormon’s point of view, the Twilight movies explore interspecies chaste love, betrayal, heartbreak and, in Breaking Dawn, Part 1, the pro-choice debate. Yes, the key-target audience is for 18 year olds, but these themes are Shakespearian in their appeal, and the dedication that has been put into telling these stories in a straight, honest delivery to be enjoyed by an audience of any age is to be admired.

Rating

With the Twilight Saga film series improving in each installment in regards to direction and production values (including the increasing complexity and brilliance of its CGI SPFX), I give this first part of the Twilight Saga's finale a reserved 3 pangs out of 5.

Check out the movie and its trailer at the International Movie Data Base (IMDb)

Luke McWilliams, December 2011

The Debt is a  drama-thriller film directed by John Madden (of Shakespeare in Love Fame) and is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of the same name.

Plot

In 1966 we meet Israli agents Rachel Singer (played by Jessica Chastain), David Peretz (played by Sam Worthington) and Stefan Gold (Marton Csokas) as they return home to Israel after a mission in East Berlin.

We flash forward to 1997 where Rachel  (now played by Helen Mirren) is being honored by her daughter during a release party for Sarah's book, recounting the 1966 mission. Rachel is given the opportunity to read an extract of the book detailing her team’s capture of The Surgeon of Birkenau, Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (played by Jesper Christensen). After her account, we go back once again to the events in 1966, where wackinessensues……. 

Review

Its actually very rare for someone passionate about movies to have a movie come along under their radar, with very little information about it. In the age of digital social media, with information coming thick and fast of upcoming blockbusters and the like, sometimes a small nugget (usually an art-house film) slips through the media cracks, with an air of mystery that actually entices one to see it. Therefore I pleasantly knew very little about The Debt and was engaged throughout. The historic set-up soon plays into a Rashômon syle of narrative, where truth and lies are served up amongst the rippling consequences of such actions.

The Debt is a thriller in every sense of the word: a very evil master manipulator versing off against a three person team who carry their own fragile dynamics, set in a threatening environment and time not kind to our three jewish protagonists. 

It is when we learn the consequences of the trio’s decision where the movie gets a strong elevation, which really plucks us out of our comfort zone: no longer are we watching a 1966 Mission: Impossible, safe in the knowledge that all the main players have obviously survived, succeeded and are know living a life of national heroes. Mistakes made in the past surge ahead decades later to once again pin the trio together, in an almost Stephen King tale of a deal with the devil. The movie keeps on escalating in thrilling fashion and was actually a real joy to watch.

The atmosphere of 1966 Berlin is suffocating: three Israeli spies in the thick of enemy territory, only venturing off during the day to complete their missions, and held up in their apartment with only themselves and a piano for company and entertainment. A jolly time in a pub soon turns sour due to the weight of the mission at hand.

Jessica Chastain is fantastic as Rachel, a soldier who must attend gynecology appointments with the trio’s prey, playing hunter and the hunted concurrently. The emotional strain of the job leaves her emotionally vulnerable to those around her, which leads to devastating turns. Marton Csokas’ Stefan is charismatic and oozes leadership. With a cool head and slightly sleazy approach it is he who is the unofficial leader of the team.

Sam Worthington’s David may be the slightly weaker of the three. David has a very uncomplicated world-view, sustained and propelled by vengeance, while being hindered by shyness and love. Worthington’s delivery is not as layered as his teammates, not-withstanding his breaking accent.

It is when we get to the character’s older selves where things look a bit shaky. Fantastic actors Tom Wilkinson and Helen Mirren are ten years too old to play their counterparts, with Tom and Ciarán Hinds looking far too different from their younger counterparts to convincingly portray the characters. This is opposed to the very chilling Vogel, who simply has aged make-up applied. Perhaps this would have been an option for the rest of the cast. 

Rating

Apart from such quibbles, The Debt is intriguing stuff, in the line of Courage Under Fire. 4 our of 5 I.O.Us.

Check out what Margaret and David have to say, and have a look at the trailer!

Luke McWilliams, December 2011

Plot

We meet a relatively young Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges.....in a manner of speaking ) who is a software engineer and now CEO of ENCOM International as he recounts stories of a virtual reality computer program universe called “The Grid” to his young son Sam. Flynn explains how he is developing The Grid with the help of two computer programs, a security program called Tron and a program designed to perfect the system called Clu 2. and that one day he will show this universe to Sam. Unfortunately, one evening Kevin goes to his office in his arcade, never to return.................................

Some twenty years later, ENCOM has become a capitalistic corporation a world away from Flynn’s liberal manner, and its exiled controller Sam (now played by Garrett Hedlund) is nothing more than a serial pest, much like his father in the original TRON. That is until one day Sam receives word from ENCOM executive and good family friend (creator of the original Tron program played once again by Bruce Boxleitner), that he received a page from his father’s office. Breaking into the 80’s style Flynn’s arcade, Sam starts to tap away at his father’s secret computer while a mysterious, yet familiar, particle digitizer laser position behind him snaps into life, where digital wackiness quickly ensues.........................................

Review

Tron Legacy  looks and sounds brilliant. The computer graphics and the ‘Grid’ landscape are amazing. After reading a lot in 3d magazines and the like, apparently the world of computer graphics were pushed to the limit with this movie. Simple scenes such as the Clu 2 character walking through the arena were completely CG, as is Sam’s suit whilst riding his light-cycle. The 3d conversion is fantastic. I tend to think that animated movies look the best in 3d (Avatar, Megamind), as the image can undergo more evasive manipulation than that of its film counter-part.

The action sequences are a joy to watch. Light cycle-chases, disk battles and planes ablaze, leaving streaks of flowing, ebbing colours running along the screen like a groovy lava-lamp equalizer, moving and changing with the throb of the electro base. Such action scenes however, are done away with in the movie’s introduction, quickly running Sam through them as a recap of the original TRON, getting viewers up-to speed about what this world is, and then putting them smack into expositional plot. In this sense, Tron Legacy  is less a sequel and more a deliberate marketing strategy to place the product to contemporary audiences.

The world of TRON,  inside the ‘lost hard-drive,’ has evolved naturally like a Galápagos Islands, away from any other computer system and, as pointed out in the script, the internet. This explains the organic and updated look of the new Tron Universe as compared with the original TRON: gone are the limiting straight lines of the light-cycles, and we even see naturally evolving mountain ranges and water!

Unlike The Matrix which is designed to receive constant updates and changes like any other Windows software, The Grid was left to its own devices, welcoming the arrival of a new form of life in the Iso’s: naturally evolved organisms birthed within The Grid, free from User’s pre-programmed functions they have complete free will.

The soundtrack by Daft Punk is truly awesome: digital beats are accompanied with symphony strings; a blend of traditional, textural sound with the almost sterilised perfection of computer emulation.

In regards to the script, computer programming serves as a metaphor for eastern philosophy like the original TRON. There are references to gods and their creations, destiny, legacy, evolution of life and spirits within the machine. Frankenstein is played as The Dude, and he suffers the mistake of lack of a thought-out-plan – creating for the sake of creating, like the creator of Jurassic Park, not because he should but because he could.

Olivia Wilde is a great new find. Comic and computer geeks have found a new object of their affection. Olivia plays her Quorra character as young, optimistic, naive and beautiful warrior: efficient in battle, but emotionally raw. Quorra is a riff on Frank Miller’s female Robin to an aging Batman in The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again. As Batman is to Robin, Flynn is to Quorra– one who has grown bitter and weary with the world around him, but employs the assistance of a young, optimistic, energetic girl to be the eyes, ears and heart that he needs to get the job done.

Unfortunately, there are numerous plot-holes, character inconsistencies, exposition and areas where the plot takes major missteps. For example, why, if this Tron universe has been evolving on its own Hard-Drive for the last 20 years, has the arena games been used as a system of control such as that seen in the MCP from the original TRON? Clu 2 was developed from within the confines of this specific environment, and hasn’t set foot outside of it at all. It could be argued that, as Clu 2 is a mirror of Flynn; that he is using Flynn’s memories and techniques to deal with control of this world. Another plot inconsistency has Flyn making the point that Clu 2 cannot physically set foot on the naturally evolved landscape of The Grid, hence his hideout set in the mountains looking over The Grid. Yet, we see Clu freely walking all over Flynn’s pad in a scene! Why didn’t he just do this a thousand computer years earlier?

There is a scene where Sam gets ‘suited-up’ by computer-program ‘sirens’, basic programs designed for one thing, which is to be stored in a facilitie's walls, to come out and dress new arrivals to the gladiatorial games, at which point they return to their holding pens in the walls. However, when Flynn is out amongst the town-folk, he bumps into one of these programs as she goes about her life, complete with umbrella! If such a program has this type of free will, why not quit that horrible job! There are also numerous scenes that do not advance the story at all, instead leading to forced obstacles that the hero must overcome, (of note is the completely redundant club scene with Michael Sheen) which is frustrating as there are bigger things afoot that we would rather see him dealing with!

As mentioned before, the most frustrating thing with Tron Legacy is simply the plot. It seems that star Jeff Bridges is shoe-horned into this movie, where, unfortunately, his absence may have helped progress the film’s story to a more relevant and exciting storyline, focussing on Flynn’s son Sam and the movie’s namesake; Tron. As it is, with a graphic novel direct sequel to TRON, Tron: Betrayal , which sets up the video-game Tron: Evolution that immediately precedes Tron Legacy, it is as if we are watching the third part of a trilogy, with all the fantastic plot details delivered in stilted exposition. It is like having watched Return of the Jedi, and have a character briefly recount the events of the previous 2 films to us (not withstanding the prequels). This takes away from the relationship Flyn has with Clu.2 and any sibling rivalry that may have developed between Sam and Clu.2. This approach did not do any favours to The Matrix Trilogy where the narrative bled through three films, a video game and an Anime collection, so it is odd that the makers of Tron Legacy would choose this route.

There were rumblings that Tron Legacy was in fact a bridging movie, a movie that looked to establish Tron in a contemporary setting, and then to proceed with the story; Cillian Murphy’s character as Edward Dillinger Jr, head of the software design team for Encom, was to seek revenge on behalf of his father, original TRON movie villain, Ed Dillinger portrayed by David Warner. Such hopes may have been dashed from Tron Legacy’s performance at the box-office, but that has not stopped Disney from releasing an animated television series.

Rating

Tron Legacy is a sumptuous aural and visual feast. The plot is however less of a sequel and more of a bridge to something more contemporary – a passing of the torch. It is fitting that it is called legacy, however, it is a pity that such a grand story has been quickly glossed over, cinematically speaking, in anticipation of further instalments rather than delivering a hard Tron story first and foremost, the ones fans deserved.

3.5 light cycles out of 5

Check out what Rotten Tomatoes have to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams, January 2011

Join Luke McWilliams, Steven Robert and Liam Jennings as they review;

    New to cinema release Conviction,

    New to DVD release, The Experiment; and

    Cult Movie, Short-Cuts.

Special Guest: Marissa Martin from EoR Media

The Fighter is a biographical sports movie directed by David O. Russell.

Plot

We are introduced to professional welterweight boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (played by Marky-Mark Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (played by The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale). Under the coaching of his never-do-well brother Dicky, who is “the pride of  Lowell, Massachusetts” for having knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard back in his glory days, and his overbearing mother (played by a fantastic Melissa Leo), we see Micky get pushed into a fight that he should never have been in in the first place. After receiving a vicious and humiliating beating, Micky is quick to rethink his career and his professional relationships with his family and also his love-life. Picking up the phone to call the young and attractive bargirl (played by Amy Adams) wackiness soon ensues...... 

Review

Marky-Mark really is the quiet centre of a family drama. Without his restrained and very subtle performance, the movie would probably descend into a screaming mess. As it is, he is the bedrock where very colourful characters inhabit. Christian Bale loses himself in his interpretation of real-life character Dicky Eklund, absolutely deserving of his best supporting actor Golden Globe award. The pair’s mother played by Melissa Leo is reminiscent of Jacki Weaver’s Oscar nominated performance in last year’s brilliant Animal Kingdom: a mother who forgives/ignores her families’ dysfunction, choosing to have them to stay together no matter what. Amy Adams is also very convincing as a wrong-side of the track “MTV girl”, her looks being made to look an attainable and familiar beauty. One could easily say that Marky-Mark is the weak link as his star doesn’t shine as nearly as bright as others on-screen. Like his onscreen character, Marky-Mark is a stepping-stone, allowing his co-stars a leg-up, confident that he is centre-stage. Mark was integral in getting the film made, keeping his physique in top condition over a 5 year period on the off-chance that he would enter production at a moment’s notice. Like Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Mark went through a gruelling boxing-training regime to convincingly convey welterweight, giving a lot of thought into the psychology and technique of boxing (as seen in the movie).

The texture and atmosphere of the movie is extremely rich and authentic. It is as if we are transported to Masechusis America, complete with not-very-good-looking average locals (special mention goes to Micky’s many sisters). This is more-so than Black Swan which, admittedly, probably wasn’t trying to be at all realistic, given its horror film aspects. The film makers had real-life source material and references at their disposal that they have used extremely well.

The camera-work and cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema is great. Switching from film to digital-broadcast quality during fight-scenes, we bounce from docu-drama to becoming a sporting spectator getting the best of both worlds: a great front seat to amazing action sequences, and bearing witness to the intimate relationship between boxer and trainer.

Critics have suggested that there is not enough actual boxing in The Fighter, but obviously this is more of a family drama then straight out boxing movie (hell, even Rocky was a drama first!). The obstacles Micky has to overcome are influences on his life such as his family, his management, his girlfriend and ultimately himself, that seem to only want the best for him. In reality however, either consciously or subconsciously, such influences are hiding ulterior motives of their own redemption and financial gain.

First linked to Darren Aronofsky after directing The Wrestler, this movie could have been quite a different beast, tuning the subject matter with more dark and serious overtones. As it stands however, Russell does a good job referencing the negatives of Micky’s life, (Micky’s internal doubts,  his savage beatings and his drug-addled brother) while maintaining the focus on Micky’s rise above his various obstacles.

Rating

One could argue that amongst all of the drama and negative/poisonous environment that surrounds Micky, the movie seems to come together too neatly at its conclusion. This may be in tradition of such sporting films but it also occurred in real life. Marky-Mark has commented that the story was chosen as it makes a great cinematic story, thus art imitating life. After watching the lead up, I was satisfied with the final blow.

Great performances, great atmosphere and action sequences. A real sucker-punch to the tear-duct – 4 jabs out of 5

See what Rotten Tomatoes has to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams February 2011

The Green Hornet is a 3D movie based on the 1930s radio show and 60’s television show, directed by Michel Gondry.

Plot

We are introduced to Kevin Smith-like playboy slacker Britt Reid (played by Gen Y’s comedy slacker Seth Rogen ) who is the son of James Reid millionaire publisher of the Los Angeles newspaper The Daily Sentinel (played by the always awesome Tom Wilkinson). Once his father is found slain by an allergic reaction to a bee's sting, Britt finds himself at the head of a publishing company that he has no-idea how to run. After a burgeoning friendship with his father’s genius mechanic Kato (played by Asia super-pop-star Jay Chou), and an impromptu rescue mission of a damsel in distress, the duo decide to dedicate their lives to rid their city of gang-related crime, where wackiness ensues.......................

Review

The movie is surprisingly very funny. I could not help but laugh at the improvised comedic delivery of Seth Rogen as he plays his child-like exasperation reacting off of the radiating, effortless coolness of Kato. Seth’s energy and enthusiasm is enough for us to empathise with Kato: it is easy to see why such a straight-laced genius would fall for Seth’s enthusiasm and be allowed to be swept along for the ride as his side-kick / partner. The child-like wonder is akin to Adam Sandberg’s The Lonely Island’s frenetic amazement that they have winded up on a boat! This is a gag that is used throughout the movie, let alone the Green Hornet mythology itself – if Kato is the one literally doing all of the footwork, what does he need the Green Hornet for? The relationship is well established in the movie as it is shown that, however idiotic Britt Reid is presented, he is the ‘ideas’ man, whereas Kato is the practical genius. Britt comes up with the ludicrous ideas, unleashed via his stupidity, whereas Kato’s logical genius is his Achilles heel – he can only see the logical side of things, taking Captain Kirk’s ideas and putting them, Spock-like into reality. The yin and yang, the logical and artistic, the right and left hemispheres working perfectly well. It is also great to see what happens to the duo when they are separated, and how they cannot function without the other, falling back into their apathetic ruts from whence they came.

The action scenes are great. The first scene where the duo fights the would-be muggers is excellent, establishing the pairings working/crime-fighting relationship – The Green Hornet is the mouth, and Kato is the fists....and feet and demonstrated in the TV series. Gondry’s bag of visual tricks are well delivered here, delivering a fight reminiscent of The One and The Matrix while putting his own unique, fun spin on it.

There are plenty of nods to the Hornet’s previous incarnations, for instance The Green Hornet’s face mask from the 1940’s Green Hornet serial, Kato’s driving goggles and a sketch of Bruce Lee.

The movie falters however as soon as Seth puts on the The Green Hornet uniform. Instead of a heroic reveal a la Batman, Superman etc....Seth Rogen does not become the character, instead he is simply Seth Rogen wearing a mask. The 60’s television series was akin to the Batman television series although it was played straight and was actually very James Bond cool, especially with the incredibly cool Bruce Lee as Kato. Instead of looking into the character of the Green Hornet, Seth as star and co-writer simply bends the character to suit his on-screen slacker persona.

This movie’s script makes a conscious point to play AGAINST the ‘normal’ interpretation of the classic comic-book hero genre, even making references to the ‘problem’ with other comic-book heroes. The Green Hornet however is a 30’s invention spawned by The Shadow, The Lone Ranger and the same influences that gave birth to Batman. The Green Hornet has many similar facets as Batman: a death in the family leading to a ‘road to Damascus’ moment, a secret hangout, a contact within the police force, a mask, car and side-kick. The Green Hornet and Kato were even paired with the 60’s Batman TV show at one point. To have so many similarities in the first place and then try to play away from type within the same genre is an arrogant mistake.

From the second act, the movie derails. As soon as the duo are in their car, Kato asks The Green Hornet “where are we going?” to which the Green Hornet answers “I don’t know. I thought you knew.” This is a similar problem with the script: the duo become heroes for no real reason other than to have fun, and they get their act together before finding a goal or simply a reason for being. There simply isn't a plot to hang onto.

An action sequence during the day at a building site is also uninspired. The pair’s avatar’s, like Batman’s, do not ‘work’ during the day. To top it off, the unnecessarily convoluted plot and an illogical and muddled ending set-piece is disappointing when compared to the movie’s first fantastic action sequence. When Gondry is not directing a fight scene, the energy is left up to his improvisational comedy star to hit-and-miss the scene pretty much on his own.

The violence is also striking. The film is a cool comedy that young teens can really enjoy, complete with Iron-Man and Batman Begins gadgetry establishing the origins of a hero and his interrelationships with his team-members. Its fun stuff. However, scenes of explicit and cruel violence are quite jolting. The tone therefore is uneven. Digital stunt men are introduced under falling cars, objects and buildings. The camera then, unnecessarily, focuses-in on the dying men’s twitching limbs.

The ‘heroic’ finale is let down by vicious and cruel straight-up murders. I am uncomfortable with hero’s murdering their foe: Batman swore not to use guns or kill people due to his parents being gunned downed, but in the 1989 Batman, he has no problems blowing up a gang along with the Axis Chemical plant with a hand-grenade, dropping the Joker off of a cathedral after telling him “I’m going to kill you” or in Batman Returns shoving a stick of dynamite down a gang member's pants and then giving said gang member a sick smile before hurling him into an open sewer, leading to an explosion. Hell, even Christian Bale’s Batman tells the film’s uber villian in 2003’s Batman Begins “I’m not going to kill you, but I don’t have to save you” and lets the villian to his fate in a crashing train. However, in The Dark Knight, he saves Heath Ledger’s Joker from falling to his death...hmmmmmm............. Iron-Man even shot a group of men in a single shot, and then blew up a tank, presumably with a driver in it. He then reveals himself to be Tony Stark at film’s conclusion. I’m amazed that Iron-Man 2 was not subtitled “Dead Man Walking”. The heroic Optimus Prime in Transformers 2 goes out of his way to hunt and exterminate ‘evil’ Decepticons, and tells his opponent at films end to “give me your face” and then proceeds to rip his face....off. Bumblebee also rips the spine out of a Decepticon puma’s back, but that’s okay see...cause they’re ‘evil.’  It seems perhaps instead of all of these expensive gadgets, such ‘heroes’ should just take a leaf out of Death Wish, save a few bucks and just buy a gun.

Rating

I could go on further with what was lacking in the movie, suffice to say all in all, a very mixed effort. A sprawling, unguided comedy, with jolting Gondry camera tricks disturbing the balance. An unfortunately expected result from its troubled production history, something along the straight lines of the original television show or French short film would have been welcome.

2.5 Hornets out of 5

See what Rotten Tomatoes has to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams February 2011

Tron is a 1982 science fiction movie written and directed by Steven Lisberger, starring Jeff Bridges

Plot

We meet Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges) who is trying to hack into his old place of work, the software company ENCOM. Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner) previously stole Flynn’s video-game designs and, passing them off as his own, scaled many rungs on the corporate ladder, becoming the company’s senior executive. While Flynn is searching the mainframe for evidence of Ed’s wrong doing, he is consistently blocked by the extremely oppressive authoritarian Master Control Program (MCP) that controls the mainframe.

ENCOM employees Alan Bradley (played by Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora Baines (played by Cindy Morgan) inform Flynn that Dillinger knows what he is up to and has thus tightened security clearances. Flynn manages to get his friends on board his mission and they all break into ENCOM so that he can get them into the system and place Brad’s security program “Tron” within it: a program which would monitor communications between the MCP and the outside work. Once inside the ENCOM lab however, the MCP takes control of a matter-digitising laser which is aimed at Flynn’s back where digital wackiness ensues..........................

Review

Tron was groundbreaking back in the 1980’s. The special effects incorporated classic animation, computer animation and live action elements using back-lighting techniques. It was extremely brave of Disney to take this project on as it was cutting edge: nobody had seen anything like this before and it was a risk. Similar to 2008’s Speed Racer, it was a hard film to define: was it live action or a cartoon? Even the Academy Awards snubbed the film for its special effects as they believe the production team “cheated” by using computers, of course now-a-days such CG use is the norm as it is relatively cheaper and safer.

Tron has excellent action sequences that are well paced and brilliantly realised: the light- cycles races and disk-battles are always coupled with a sense of urgency and danger, while all the while looking really cool with speed and glowing-ghosting of images leaving their trace across the screen.

The story of being sucked into a computer and playing along with the programs was a popular theme in the 80’s. The Star Wars two player arcade video game had a pilot and a shooter guiding its X-Wing through the Death Star with 3d vector graphics throwing themselves across the screen. It is with this influence amongst early video gaming verging on 3D that lead to the theme of playing inside the machine. The Last Star Fighter had its hero being lost in the story of his local arcade machine, an escape from his trailer park life. Unbeknownst to him, the arcade machine was actually a recruitment program which selects him to battle amongst the stars in his own space-ship.

At the time, video / arcade machines were a social venture, allowing players and viewers to be transported to a fantastical land. With the introduction of home consoles and desk-top computers, video-gaming became much more introverted whereas now, gaming can be done with a wealth of strangers online, albeit on your couch. Games however have now become so realistic, that the fantasy element has suffered. Instead of exploring other worlds with sci-fi technology, we are privy to stealing cars and participating in wars. It is interesting to note that early video-game movies which have placed their characters in the real world (Super Mario Brothers, The Wizard) suffered as a result, and that movies based on ‘realistic’ video-games underperform (Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark).

Tron shares a few religious philosophical themes usually reserved for a Manga film, particularly the religious belief in ‘users’: programmers responsible for their programs within the computer, god-like beings that, when descended into the Tron world, yield supernatural abilities.

The idea that programmers imprint their souls onto every piece of code that they write can be likened to any work that anyone does – a piece of us, our attention, our expertise and / or love is dedicated to every piece of work that we do, be it technical, artistic or caring for another. Tron represents this idea through using the actors playing the programmers to double-up and play their counterpart programs. This simple expression of this idea is executed perfectly, with soul imprints reacting to each other as they would in the ‘real’ world. This is a refreshing visual interpretation of the idea of what it means to be human compared to the verbose Ghost in the Shell. Kevin Flynn’s Clu program acts in the way I would have expected a ‘program’ to act – specific and robotic. However, ghosting of souls from programmers lead to a natural evolution of complexity to the programs having feelings and relationships, evolving beyond their ‘written’ purpose/destiny.

Disney excels at anthropomorphic characters, what with first giving a mouse a voice, then a dog, a duck and so on (heck, come to think of it they even did cars and furniture). Over time their characters started to look similar to their real-life counterparts, making their plight even more emotionally involving as we felt for them. Tron does keep this tradition going but with almost clairvoyant predictive clarity: in an era when computers where cold, beige pieces of furniture, Tron made us feel for programs: things designed to assist us, the real. Tron developed a social class but put a face to it as well, before Macintosh made computers a piece of high design, where people felt for tamagochi  pets and where computers emitted sounds of delight or disappointment with our actions.

Of course now we can design our computers and convergent devices to our tastes, leading to an emotional connection with them. Will Smith’s character asks a robot designer “why do you make them look like humans” in I, Robot. Why indeed. Where children were flushing their newly acquired clown fish down the toilets to free them and keeping all of their old toys from the rubbish, should we really be thinking twice before deleting a program or Word document? Oh..that’s right: Windows does ask you if you REALLY want to carry through with that action, along with an emotional beep.  

That being said, the plot and themes of Tron are tied in with programming theory and language. For a general audience member, let alone a child watching the film in the 1980’s where the internet didn’t exist and computers were more common taking up half a room in an office building, this may have been a bit daunting. In the computer tech-savvy millennium however, audiences should be able to follow this easily.

Rating

Obviously all of these themes and visual cues (especially comparing live circuit boards to a living city) were executed in the brilliant Matrix trilogy (which picked to death similar themed Manga films, of note Ghost in the Shell), encompassing many eastern themes and marrying them up perfectly with a wealth of psychology, philosophy, religion as represented through complex computer programming. Tron did it first, perhaps too soon for a general audience and therefore alienating itself. However the audience did select this movie through time and that is why it is now a cult classic.

Fun fast and flashy, this user gives Tron 4.5 disks out of 5

Check out what Rotten Tomatoes have to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams,January 2011