The Tron Shit We Wanted a Decade Ago

For those of you who don't get it, when the first TRON came out in the 80's, it was a a spectacle. This was the height of the rise of video games. Well before Nintendo and Sega, this is when Atari and PacMan ruled the world and you just didn't see digital movies. Jeff Bridges was the cool hippie long before he became the cool old hippie and the effects were better than a cartoon and different than a regular movie.

Talks of a sequel were around for years and them in 2011, we got one. Tron Legacy was a visual spectacle and if you were a fan, you liked the movie, but it was missing something. It certainly didn't really build new Tron fans. The acting was flat and even the Daft Punk soundtrack couldn't save it.

There was talk of a direct sequel to Legacy coming out but after it didn't do so hot, and Tomorrowland was a disaster for Disney, it was scrapped. Now 2025, enter Tron Ares.

The star is Jared Leto who is one of those actors who takes chances and....sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. This one, he doesn't go over the top and plays it just about right as the lead Program who is the latest one on the grid who wants out. What does Tron Ares do right that Legacy did not? More homage to the original. You see way more call backs, Legacy had them, but not like this. It calls back to the original as well as Legacy giving you the Alice in Wonderland feel of a modern day program in the 80's grid, Jeff Bridges appears again, we don't get Seperate Ways by Journey, but we do get a lot of Depeche Mode.

The effects are what they should be. In this type of movie, you shouldn't be blown away by writing that makes you think of Hemmingway or Gone with the Wind, but it should be the visuals and they will blow your mind. You ever wonder what a Tron-mobile looks like in downtown Chicago?

The bad guy is a Dillinger like it should be. This should be Flynn and Encom vs DIllinger and Ares delivers.

Also delivering is the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. Loud at some points, it fits the digital grid and Trent along with Atticus continue to be some of my favorite movie composers.

Watch it for what it is, action and visuals and fantasy. This one gets the PHTV thumbs up.

-The Dr