Kosinski touches on more themes than he ever knows what to do with. The Holocaust, evil doppelgangers, mad scientists, God complexes, a paradise lost. Best thing to do? Just don’t think too hard about any of it.Īpparently having moved into the room visited by Bowman at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kevin claims the ISOs – the miraculous nano-life that magically, organically created inside this computer world – hold the key to all humanity. Unfamiliar with the original movie? You’re going to feel a little lost.Įven hardcore Tron-heads will be scratching scalp at certain points. Kevin Flynn is a fugitive trapped inside the digital world by his own avatar CLU, an evil doppelganger who now controls The Grid. And that’s when the gloss on this brave new world starts to crack. It’s a while before we’re given a second to figure out what’s going on. Meanwhile, Daft Punk’s score paints its own sombre, synthy soundscapes, pumping vibe and life into cold, hard surfaces of Tron ’s world. This is an architect’s mind at work – Kosinski’s background – and he proves himself a highly imaginative level designer. What’s more, the human actors all exist seamlessly in this CG environment. Leaving behind mesmerising liquid ribbons of light as they surge around a multi-level arena, the cycles are beyond cool. Which is like a lethal game of air hockey (just one of Tron Legacy's classic-arcade game nods), as black-suited Capoeira-style foes send electric frisbees ricocheting around a glassy area.īut the new-look light-bike battle royale is something else. For the first 20 minutes on The Grid, Legacy ’s velocity is thrilling: Sam is abducted, suited in neon-ribbed body armour, loaded into a gladiatorial stadium and hurled into a disc fight. Īlthough curiously, unavoidable echoes of Blade Runner seem to lie everywhere: otherworldly women, elevators to the heavens, charred skies even one character’s haircut is pure Rutger Hauer. It’s stunning, seductive and uniquely Tron. Upgraded in breathtaking style by Kosinski’s team, this stormy, apocalyptic city is a fearful, magnificent world of dark space, reflective surface and searing light.
After a spectacularly ludicrous scene in which Sam hacks the Encom mainframe before free-fall parachuting off the top of the building like Ethan Hunt, it’s a matter of minutes before we’re blasted into cyberspace.Ī mysterious message from Flynn’s Arcade.