Yesterday, Max and I went to the local Cinemark and saw TRON ARES, the latest entry into the TRON universe. Like its older siblings, it is beautiful to look at and and as dumb as dumb can be.
As long as the characters aren't moving their lips and emitting sounds of some sort, the movie works on an action level, with quite beautiful looking and spectacular VFX.
And if you like seeing very well shaped females in tight leather and spandex engaged in energetic displays of martial arts and fisticuffs, you will be well satisfied.
I'm not going to discuss the plot, what there is of it, because it's not really important.
I couldn't get over how close together Jared Leto's eyes are set. Much closer and he'd be a cyclops.
There is a very cool sequence set in Flynn's original server, where ARES has been sent to retrieve the "permanence code". ARES meets up with Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, who looks like of like a Jedi ghost. The environment is a reasonably good replication of the look of the original 1982 film. They got our lighting and most of the aesthetic, but didn't quite get the simple rigor of the geometric shape language and composition that Syd Mead created. Still, it was nice to see how well it held up in its own terms after the VFX extravaganza preceding it.
If you're looking for something profound, this ain't for you. If you're looking for tight bodied fighting babes amid trails of glowing energy and flying frisbees, this film is for you. If you're wondering what the hell Gillian Anderson is doing in the middle of all of this, so am I.
3.5 out of 5