I remember when I first saw Tron Legacy at the cinema; it was opening day, I went to the first showing and I don't remember more than one other person being in the cinema. It was magic. I have a bit of a soft spot for Tron to begin with, but Tron Legacy was everything I could have asked for. When the Daft Punk soundtrack started up, when the Recogniser landed, when Flynn's Arcade lit up, I was transported. A few days later, I took my then girlfriend to see the film, she hadn't seen Tron and was a few years younger than me, but I thought she would enjoy it. She did not. When I asked around as to who among my friends had seen Tron Legacy and what they thought about it, the response was also pretty negative. Not to be "that guy", but I really think most people don't get Tron Legacy; it's a story of gods and mortals, of faith and religion, of fathers and sons, and, perhaps most of all, about the power of belief in dictatorships. Tron Legacy is a masterwork of Science Fiction, but it seems no one will ever know.
Years after the disappearance of Flynn, his son, Sam receives a clue to to his possible whereabouts which leads him to an old Tron machine at Flynn's Arcade. Before you can say "iconic sequence", Sam is sucked into The Grid and is soon fighting for his life in a nightmare dystopia ruled over by Clu, the dark, digital reflection of Flynn. The Grid is beautiful, in high-contrast gloss colours like a neo-noir fever dream, with sleek edges and hard lines to evoke the look of the original Tron whilst still remaining something entirely new; visually, Tron Legacy is a feast, better even that Avatar in my opinion. Then there's the overarching narrative, whilst Sam isn't all that interesting in of himself, the ongoing conflict between Flynn and Clu holds deep meaning. The most obvious comparison would be Paradise Lost, with Clu in the Lucifer role, but it is Flynn who is cast into the wilderness and the Isos are spawned from nowhere, so the text I'd be inclined to consider would be William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Clu is the Urizen aspect of God, measuring out the world and not accepting of chaos and emotion interfering with his good works.
Flynn, the true creator, retreats from his creation, while his greatest champion, Tron, is slain and resurrected to serve the Antagonist, not dissimilar to Blake's take on the Archangel Michael. Am I saying Tron Legacy is a postmodernist, digitalist take on the works of William Blake? Probably not, especially when the writer's other works are considered in the context, but the reading is there to be made and there's a decent Thesis in it for anyone who cares to try. Oh and the conflict between the spontaneously-generating Isos and the Programs made by Flynn is a whole other thing that we'll have to discuss in the next one of these. Yes, there will be a next one, as I've found one more piece of Tron media, and it explores the Isos better, so watch out for that somewhere down the track. Tron Legacy is amazing, and with any justice and a sliver of hope, it will become a cult classic for future generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment