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New Hulu Shows and Movies in August 2024

Only Murders in the Building sets out on a new case

There aren't a lot of interesting new shows and movies on Hulu in August, but do they all need to be good when one is among Hulu's best? Only Murders in the Building returns for Season 4 toward the end of the month, with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez reprising their roles as true-crime junkies who investigate real crimes. And this time, they're headed out of the building and over to Hollywood!

Elsewhere, it's slim pickings. Season 5 of the animated comedy Solar Opposites touches down on Aug. 15, legal drama Reasonable Doubt is back for Season 2 on Aug. 22, and the docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun premieres Aug. 28.  

Check out everything coming to and leaving Hulu in August below, plus our picks for the best of the month.

Last month's guide:   New Hulu shows and movies in July 2024 Next month's guide:   New Hulu shows and movies in September 2024

More streaming:

• Everything new on Netflix
• What's new on HBO and Max
• What's new on Amazon Prime Video
• The complete guide to summer TV: Everything to know about what to watch this season

The best new shows and movies on Hulu in August

Emayatzy Corinealdi and Morris Chestnut, Reasonable Doubt

Reasonable Doubt  Season 2 (Aug. 22)

The first scripted series from Onyx Collective — a Disney sub-brand focused primarily on shows and movies created by and about people of color — returns for its second season of high stakes legal drama. Defense attorney Jax Stewart ( Emayatzy Corinealdi ), still licking her wounds from Season 1's case and marital issues, takes on a new case after one of her best friends kills her husband in what she claims was self-defense. Morris Chestnut joins the season as an ambitious defense lawyer Jax brings on for assistance. [ Trailer ]  

Only Murders in the Building  Season 4 (Aug. 27)

It wouldn't be  Only Murders in the Building  without a cliffhanger death in the finale. And our latest victim, from the end of Season 3, is none other than Sazz Pataki ( Jane Lynch ), Charles-Haden Savage's ( Steve Martin ) stunt double from his TV show  Brazzos.  Along with his podcast-producing pals Oliver Putnam ( Martin Short ) and Mabel Mora ( Selena Gomez ), Charles sets out to find the one behind Sazz's death — and figure out whether he himself was the murderer's true target.  Only Murders in the Building  Season 4 promises the trio's most expansive investigation yet, not least because a Hollywood studio interested in developing their podcast leads them on a journey to Los Angeles. - Kat Moon  [ Teaser ]   

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun  (Aug. 28)

It's hard to believe that Baywatch was once the most popular television show in the entire world, but through the magic of tight one-piece red swimsuits and slow motion photography, it somehow captured the attention of everyone from Texas to Thailand. This four-part series features interviews with dozens of former cast members and never-before-seen footage and home videos shot by the cast, and details how the series became a cultural phenomenon and set unreasonable standards for beauty across the globe.

More on Hulu:

• The ultimate guide to what to watch in July
• The best TV shows on Hulu right ow
• The best movies on Hulu right ow
• Hulu review: Pricing, features, how to sign up, and more

Everything new on Hulu in August

Aug. 1 Billion Dollar Wreck: Complete Season 1 Buddy Valastro's Cake Dynasty: Complete Season 1 Interrogation Cam: Complete Season 1 Naruto Shippuden (DUBBED) Eps #450 - 461 The Banger Sisters (2002) The Beach (2000) Because I Said So (2007) Brothers McMullen (1995) Casino (1995) Drumline (2002) Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) Eragon (2006) Flubber (1997) Fool's Gold (2008) The Full Monty (1997) Garfield (2004) Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties (2006) The Guardian (2006) Horrible Bosses (2011) Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) I Feel Pretty (2018) In Time (2011) John Carter (2012) Kingdom of Heaven (2005) Knocked Up (2007) Maid in Manhattan (2002) Marley & Me (2008) Marley & Me: The Puppy Years (2011) The Mask of Zorro (1998) Midway (2019) Muppets from Space (1999) Night at the Museum (2006) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) Open Season: Scared Silly (2016) Punch-Drunk Love (2002) Race to Witch Mountain (2009) Rachel Getting Married (2008) Raising Arizona (1987) Random Hearts (1999) Robots (2005) Simply Irresistible (1999) Son-in-Law (1993) Stay (2005) Tron: Legacy (2010) Welcome Home (2018) Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Aug. 2 The Comedy Central Roast of James Franco (2013) The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber (2015) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Aug. 3 Suitable Flesh (2023)

Aug. 4 Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)

Aug. 5 Impractical Jokers: Complete Season 8

Aug. 7 Dance Moms: A New Era: Complete Season 1  NO WAY OUT: The Roulette: 2-Episode Series Premiere (SUBBED)  The Zone: Survival Mission: 3-Episode Season 3 Premiere (SUBBED)  The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: Complete Season 1 (SUBBED)

Aug. 8 Ancient Aliens Special Presentation: Complete Season 2 Blackout: Complete Season 1A (DUBBED) Escaping Evil: My Life in a Cult: Complete Season 1 Presidents at War: Complete Season 1 The World Wars: Complete Season 1 Top Shot: Complete Season 3 Unsolved: Complete Season 3 A Piece of Cake (2021) Epic Tails (2022) Food, Inc. 2 (2023)

Aug. 9 Billy Wayne Davis: Testify (2022) Eddie Pepitone: For the Masses (2020) Greg Warren: The Salesman (2023) Hari Kondabolu: Vacation Baby (2023) Kelsey Cook: The Hustler (2023) Chief of Station (2024)

Aug. 10 Greta (2019)

Aug. 11 Beautiful Disaster (2023)

Aug. 12 Solar Opposites: Complete Season 5

Aug. 13 The Woman King (2022)

Aug. 14 Tyrant: Complete Season 1 (SUBBED AND DUBBED) La Chimera (2023)

Aug. 15 Accused: Guilty or Innocent?: Complete Season 5 Bakers vs. Fakers: Complete Season 2 Build It Bigger: Complete Season 1 Cake Boss: Complete Season 16 Cake Wars: Complete Season 2 Cooks vs. Cons: Complete Season 5 Curb Appeal: Complete Season 26 Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Seasons 14 and 15 Deadly Women: Complete Seasons 12 and 13 Dr. Pimple Popper: Complete Seasons 6 and 7 Family by the Ton: Complete Season 1 Man vs. Wild: Complete Seasons 4 and 6 My 600-lb Life: Complete Season 8  My Strange Addiction: Complete Season 4 NASA's Unexplained Files: Complete Season 5 Tanked: Complete Seasons 11 and 12 The Last Alaskans: Complete Seasons 1 and 2 Tia Mowry at Home: Complete Season 1 Unusual Suspects: Complete Seasons 6 and 7 Vigilante: Complete Season 1 (DUBBED)  WWE Smack Talk: Complete Season 1 WWE's Most Wanted Treasures: Complete Season 2 Boy in the Walls (2023) Smile (2022)

Aug. 16 Accidental Texan (2023) Beta Male (Kumail Nanjiani) (2013) Comedy Central Presents Half Hour Special (Andrew Santino) (1987) Comedy Central Presents Half Hour Special (Donald Glover) (2010) Immaculate (2024) Thank You Very Cool (Nick Kroll) (2011) Tongue Untied (Wanda Sykes) (2003)

Aug. 19 OceanXplorers: Season 1 Premiere

Aug. 20 Muslim Matchmaker: Complete Season 1 Agent Recon (2024)

Aug. 21 High School Return of a Gangster: Complete Season 1 (DUBBED) Stress Positions (2024)

Aug. 22 Biography: WWE Legends: Complete Season 1 Cursed Gold: Shipwreck Scandal: Complete Season 1 Deadly Alibi: Complete Season 1 Reasonable Doubt: Season 2 Premiere  WWE Rivals: Complete Seasons 1 and 2

Aug. 23 Holly Hobbie: Complete Season 5 Adam Cayton Holland: Wallpaper (2024) The Dive (2023) Greg Warren: Where the Field Corn Grows (2020) Lewis Black: Thanks for Risking Your Life (2020) Mike Vecchione: The Attractives (2023) Reverse the Curse (Bucky F*cking Dent) (2023) Sasheer Zamata: The First Woman (2023)

Aug. 24 FX's The New York Times Presents: Lie to Fly: Documentary Premiere

Aug. 25 The Courier (2021) Total Drama Island: Reloaded: Complete Season 1A

Aug. 26 Jersey Shore: Family Vacation: Complete Seasons 3 and 4 

Aug. 27 Only Murders in the Building: Season 4 Premiere  Chaos Walking (2021)

Aug. 28 After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun: Complete Docuseries Blackout: Complete Season 1A The Villain of Romance Complete Season 1 (SUBBED)

Aug. 29 Gold Medal Families History's Greatest Mysteries: Complete Season 4 Killer Lies: Chasing a True Crime Con Man: Docuseries Premiere Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg (2023) The Duff (2015)

Aug. 30 I Kissed a Girl: Complete Season 2 Something in the Water (2024)

Everything leaving Hulu in August

Aug. 3 Accidental Love (2015) Labor Pains (2009) Winter Passing (2005)

Aug. 9 Polaroid (2019)

Aug. 10 Beautiful Disaster (2023)

Aug. 14 Journey To The West (2013) Monsters (2010) Nymphomaniac Volume I - Extended Director's Cut (2013) Nymphomaniac Volume II - Extended Director's Cut (2013) The China Hustle (2017) Red Cliff (2008) What Just Happened (2008) White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

Aug. 31 The Enforcer (2022) High-Rise (2015) The Omen (2006)

Alain Delon, Smoldering French Film Star, Dies at 88

The César-winning actor was an international favorite in the 1960s and ’70s, often sought after by the era’s great auteurs.

Alain Delon in California in 1964 during the filming of the movie “Once a Thief.” Credit... Wayne Miller/Magnum Photos

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By Anita Gates

• Published Aug. 18, 2024 Updated Aug. 26, 2024

Alain Delon, the intense and intensely handsome French actor who, working with some of Europe’s most revered 20th-century directors, played cold Corsican gangsters as convincingly as hot Italian lovers, died on Sunday. He was 88.

He died at his home in Douchy-Montcorbon, France, according to a statement his family gave to the French news service Agence France-Presse.

Hours later, President Emmanuel Macron honored him in a post on social media, saying, “Wistful, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: a French monument.”

During his heyday, the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Delon was a first-tier international star, highly paid and often sought after by the era’s great auteurs.

When he burst on the scene in the gangster genre, as a sad-eyed, saintly young sibling in “Rocco and His Brothers” (1960), Luchino Visconti was in the director’s chair. Two years later, when Mr. Delon played a sexy stock trader, it was in Michelangelo Antonioni ’s “L’Eclisse” (“Eclipse”).

And “Le Samouraï” (1967), released in the United States as “The Godson,” and the jewelry-heist flick “Le Cercle Rouge” (1970), in which Mr. Delon was a sinister, mustachioed ex-con, were both directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, patron saint of the French New Wave.

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Tron: legacy.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 28 Reviews
• Kids Say 114 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Techie reboot is visually dazzling but short on story.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this highly anticipated sequel to 1982's Tron features some intense sequences that are made even more impactful because the movie was shot in 3-D. While the violence (which includes several near-death encounters) is lessened by the fact that programs shatter instead of bleed, it's…

Why Age 10+?

In the Grid, Sam (and later Kevin and Quorra) are nearly killed by Clu and his m

Parts of the film feel like a commercial for Ducati, the luxury Italian motorcyc

Language includes "damn it," "stupid," and "hell."

In a random sweep of the grid, programs are shown cuddling, flirting, and kissin

Programs "drink" at dinner and at a club, but it's within a simulated computer w

Any Positive Content?

There aren't many life lessons in this movie other than that humanity's imperfec

Sam tries to save his father from the Grid, and Kevin ultimately shows his selfl

Violence & Scariness

In the Grid, Sam (and later Kevin and Quorra) are nearly killed by Clu and his minions many times. Sam has to fight in a series of to-the-death "games" with fierce opponents who shatter like glass when they die. A few prominent characters die in the Grid. Quorra's arm shatters, and she looks like an amputee until Kevin fixes the damage. A few drops of blood in one fight scene.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Parts of the film feel like a commercial for Ducati, the luxury Italian motorcycle. Sam and Alan drink Coors beer.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

In a random sweep of the grid, programs are shown cuddling, flirting, and kissing. Sam and Quorra flirt with each other and embrace. Four female-looking programs are dressed in skintight gear and stiletto heels. Some innuendo.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Programs "drink" at dinner and at a club, but it's within a simulated computer world. Sam and Alan have a drink together.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

There aren't many life lessons in this movie other than that humanity's imperfection is also what makes humans special and that the "digital frontier" is inescapable and constantly changes, which is definitely applicable to our techno-obsessed world. The unconditional nature of father-son relationships is also explored via Kevin and Sam.

Positive Role Models

Sam tries to save his father from the Grid, and Kevin ultimately shows his selflessness. Quorra, who's not human, values the "users" enough to willingly turn herself over to Clu.

Parents need to know that this highly anticipated sequel to 1982's Tron features some intense sequences that are made even more impactful because the movie was shot in 3-D . While the violence (which includes several near-death encounters) is lessened by the fact that programs shatter instead of bleed, it's still shocking to see and may frighten younger viewers. Language includes exclamations like "damn it" and "stupid," and the sexuality is mostly in the form of female-looking programs who wear second-skin uniforms and stilettos. There's also some flirting and embracing between two major characters. Programs kiss, dance, and drink, though you can't tell for sure that it's alcohol. Messages about technology and father-son relationships are central to this stylized action-adventure. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (28)
• Kids say (114)

Based on 28 parent reviews

Tron Legacy Movie Review By Logan Strohl

What's the story.

Two decades after computer programmer and video game designer Kevin Flynn ( Jeff Bridges ) disappeared -- but was actually trapped inside the digital world of his computer game -- his son, Sam ( Garrett Hedlund ), is prompted to track down a mysterious page. Snooping around his father's ancient video arcade, Sam is unexpectedly sucked into the "Grid" as well, where his father's virtual clone, Clu (a digitally enhanced, youthful Bridges), attempts to kill him. Sam is rescued by Quorra ( Olivia Wilde ), an enigmatic "program" who serves as Kevin's apprentice in a secret digital landscape that's considered "off the grid," where Kevin lives an almost monastic existence and has given up on ever getting out of the virtual world. With Quorra's help, Sam attempts to defeat Clu and get the three of them out of the Grid and back to reality.

Is It Any Good?

TRON: LEGACY is a visually stunning film. But while many of the action sequences are truly awesome -- including the memorable light cyle race -- the story is a bit lacking in emotion. There are some highlights -- like the hilarious nightclub scene (thanks largely to Michael Sheen , who's deliciously campy as the club's owner). Really, once the novelty of seeing two Jeff Bridges wears off, there's not too much too pull you in beyond the effects ... luckily, for fans of the original Tron , that might be plenty.

Newbies might notice that for a loud and action-packed thriller, TRON: Legacy drags a bit, with an ending that doesn't culminate in the payoff they might have hoped for. There's no denying that the computer-generated effects are worth checking out in 3-D -- If you or your kid is into all things Tron , you'll enjoy the high-tech eye candy -- but the plot almost can't help but pale in comparison.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's themes of technology and how it changes our lives . Do you think these ideas are more relevant today than in the '80s when the original came out? Why or why not?

How are Clu and Kevin's approaches to the digital world in opposition? What do they each represent?

What did you think of the movie's special effects? Were they impressive or distracting?

How does this movie compare to the original? Do you think it will have as big of a following?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 17, 2010
• On DVD or streaming : April 5, 2011
• Cast : Garrett Hedlund , Jeff Bridges , Michael Sheen , Olivia Wilde
• Director : Joseph Kosinski
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Walt Disney Pictures
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : Adventures
• Run time : 125 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : sequences of sci-fi action violence and brief mild language
• Last updated : April 18, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Tron Parent Guide

Although i followed more of the geek-speak with this viewing than i did in 1982, the light storyline continues to come across as just an excuse to get to the weightier matter of cool visuals..

While trying to hack a computer to find evidence of software theft, Kevin Flynn's (Jeff Bridges) body is digitized and his physical matter reassembled inside the mainframe. Now his only hope of returning to the real world is to find a security program called Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) and try to shut down the evil Master Control Program (David Warner).

Release date July 9, 1982

Run Time: 96 minutes

Official Movie Site

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

In the summer of 1982, Walt Disney Studios released Tron , an animation enhanced movie set within the inner workings of a computer. To the general public at that time, computers were mysterious machines that took up entire buildings. The term "program" might have been familiar, but only true nerds with degrees had any idea what ram and bytes might be. I remember watching the long production (full of tedious jargon I didn’t understand) and thinking that neither it nor my date would likely prove memorable. I was wrong on both counts.

It is now almost thirty years later, and I have been married to the man who sat next to me that night for just about as long. As for the film, while it didn’t prove to be a box office hit, it did go on to acquire a cult following due to its unique art direction and introduction of computer graphics.

Flynn has two friends that are still at the firm, Lora (Cindy Morgan) and Alan (Bruce Boxleitner). Convincing them of the crime, Lora agrees to help Flynn procure the proof he needs by letting him use her access code, while Alan launches a security program he authored and named Tron. It has the capacity of finding the rogue commands Dillinger has placed in the system. This work-together plan seems like a good idea until the MCP takes over by digitizing the pesky hacker.

The next thing Flynn knows he is inside the computer, where all programs are personified (he is known as Clu) and interacting within a virtual world. Determined to obtain absolute power, MCP is assimilating all programs, and any that believe in "Users" (meaning the programmers who wrote them and whom they revere as god-like creators) are tortured and destroyed. One of the ways MCP does this is by pitting the programs against one another in gladiator-like battles.

Flynn soon finds himself trapped in such a sport. Yet he knows he can’t stay there long. He needs to break free somehow, find Tron, and usurp the power of MCP so the programs can once again be free to function the way their benevolent programmer/users intended.

Most of the story takes place in this highly stylized environment, where peril and chase scenes are frequent, and conflicts end in deaths implied by characters turning into bursts of light. Because the programs are all portrayed by their corresponding human counterparts in the movie’s real world (Tron is played by the same actor as Alan, MCP is Dillinger, etc.), the violence feels more like injuring and killing living things rather than just deleting inanimate data. These depictions will likely present the greatest concern for parents. Thankfully the script doesn’t contain much sexual content (just a couple of kisses and veiled remarks featuring the movie’s token female) and includes only a few mild profanities.

Although I followed more of the geek-speak with this viewing than I did in 1982 (as will most of the tech-savvy audiences of 2011), the light storyline continues to come across as just an excuse to get to the weightier matter of cool visuals. While theses pale in comparison to today’s more sophisticated effects, fans of such art forms will appreciate the place Tron plays in the evolution of computer graphics and animation. As for myself, I appreciate the movie most for the sentimental memories I associate with that trip to the theater so many years ago.

About author

Donna Gustafson

Tron rating & content info.

Why is Tron rated PG? Tron is rated PG by the MPAA

Violence: Characters are forced to engage in gladiator-like battles where the losing opponent dies (implied by a bright flash of light before the body disappears). Characters are interrogated and tortured with painful shocks (causing their skeleton to shine through their skin). Frisbee-like weapons and electric-prod spears are used. Hand-to-hand combat occurs. Movie includes depictions of illegal activities, such as computer hacking, blackmail, breaking and entering, as well as intellectual property and data theft. Video-game-like violence features car races, tank chases, crashes and explosions. A powerful lazar beam digitizes a man and sends his physical matter inside a computer.

Sexual Content: Embracing and kissing. Verbal comments imply unmarried couples having sexual relationships. A man’s bare chest is shown.

Language: Infrequent use of mild profanity.

Alcohol / Drug Use: None noted.

Other: Ethical behavior is derogatorily called "religion." Personified programs revere programmers/users as their creators.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Tron Parents' Guide

The script makes several references to characters that are trying to behave in an ethical fashion as following an old religion. Why? There also appears to be some allegorical elements in the roles of Programs (the created) and Users (the creators). What deeper message, if any, do you think the moviemakers were trying to convey.

Tron is attributed for initiating new moviemaking techniques, as well as inspiring a new generation of moviemakers. Do you recognize any elements of this film in other productions you have seen? How have computer graphics evolved since 1982?

The most recent home video release of Tron movie is April 5, 2011. Here are some details…

Tron is releasing on DVD and Blur-ray on April 5, 2011. Both formats include the following bonus materials:

- The TRON Phenomenon : Explore Tron’s impact on pop culture through interviews with filmmakers and stars of the new movie

- Documentary: The Making Of Tron

- Deleted scenes with introductions by Bruce Boxleitner

- Audio commentary with Steven Lisberger, Donald Kushner, Harrison Ellenshaw and Richard Taylor.

- Production gallery.

Tron on Blu-ray also includes:

- Photo Tronology : Director Steven Lisberger and his son, Carl Lisberger visit the Disney’s Photo Library where they uncover original production photos and reveal intimate stories.

Related home video titles:

Tron: Legacy was made in 2010 as a follow up to this tale. Jeff Bridges has a long Hollywood career and can be seen in Seabiscuit , K-PAX and Tucker: The Man and His Dream .

Related news about Tron

A Dozen (Or So) Films to Celebrate Your Geekness

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• DVD & Streaming

TRON: Legacy

• Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• December 17, 2010
• Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn/Clu; Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn; Olivia Wilde as Quorra; Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley/TRON; Beau Garrett as Gem

Home Release Date

• April 5, 2011
• Joseph Kosinski

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

In 1989, Sam Flynn was just a kid. A kid who adored and looked up to his dad—video game developer and all around science whiz Kevin Flynn. But then his father mysteriously vanished.

Skip ahead to the present and Sam is feeling just as disillusioned and empty as he felt deserted back then. Only now he’s a rebellious twentysomething who’s more interested in sabotaging his father’s former corporation than working for it. In fact, it’s after playing his latest prank on the company that an old friend shows up with a message. But it’s not the typical complaints from company board members that Sam was expecting. And, oddly, it’s a pager message … from Sam’s dad.

With a little digging, Sam finds the source of the missive—a hidden room filled with computer equipment in the back of his dad’s locked up old arcade. Memories of his father’s kooky tales of an in-computer world called The Grid come flooding back. It was a fantastic place populated by programs that took on human form, his father had said. All nonsense, of course.

But after fiddling around with the stashed equipment, Sam quickly learns that the stories weren’t just fabrications for his young ears. And by quickly I mean that he’s suddenly dematerialized by a laser and transported into the bitstream world.

It is an awesome place of vibrant electronic wonders. A place where almost anything is possible. A place that’s been his father’s prison for over 20 years.

Positive Elements

Kevin (who’s called Flynn) demonstrates that his initial intentions with creating an in-computer world are good. He intends to shape something beneficial for the outside world. And when the system begins creating isomorphic algorithms (independent programs known as isos), Flynn is excited that these new “beings” can do great things for mankind.

On the interpersonal side of things, it’s quite obvious that Sam and his dad love each other deeply. Both would do anything to save the other, and they both put their lives on the line. Flynn’s apprentice program, Quorra, also puts herself in harm’s way to protect Sam and Flynn. She encourages Sam to consider his father’s wisdom.

Spiritual Elements

Flynn’s work with his in-computer grid world, a place he can actually step into and commune with his programmed subjects, is initially designed to be a Garden of Eden-like experiment in which he can shape something that’s perfectly balanced and uncorrupted. He creates a program in his own image, named Clu, and puts it/him in charge to help create this “perfect system.” And since he has been building The Grid from the circuit board up for a very long time, Flynn is recognized by all of its inhabitants as the Creator. They bestow upon him godlike reverence.

Flynn says he believes that his iso programs will change everything from “science to philosophy and religion.” We see him meditating twice, and one time he says that a stressful situation is ruining his “Zen thing.”

Sexual Content

Sam takes off his T-shirt while changing. And when he enters The Grid he is stripped down to his underwear and redressed by a quartet of sirens. They and other female figures wear latex-like curve-hugging one-piece suits.

Violent Content

Inside The Grid, “games” consist of video game-like disk-throwing and vehicle-racing competitions … that always end with one competitor’s death. The vanquished are programs, of course, so in each case their bodies simply “de-rez” into thousands of tiny bits. But Sam is also forced to participate, and during one game, he gets cut: A single drop of blood drips to the floor, proving that he is a human “user” and not a program.

We see several damaged programs that have been partially de-rezed. In one case, a program appears to have a large section of his face missing—leaving rough-edged pixelation running down from his eye. The same thing happens to Quorra when a part of her arm is de-rezed.

After parachuting from a building in the real world, Sam ends up landing on a speeding taxi that brakes and sends him tumbling to the ground. He later pulls off his shirt, revealing bruises on his back.

[ Spoiler Warning ] As Clu, who has gone over to the dark side, and his forces chase Sam, Quorra and Flynn, there are a number of flying or driving chase scenes filled with laser flashes, vehicle crashes, explosions and character de-rezes. In an effort to protect Sam, Flynn touches the ground and an emanating power wave draws Clu back to him. He embraces his creation and the two explode.

Crude or Profane Language

Three or four uses of “h‑‑‑” and one “d‑‑mit.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Sam, Flynn and a number of other characters drink a light blue liquid at dinner and at a club. A derelict program also carries a bottle of the stuff. The implication is that this is an alcoholic substance, but the fluid is very reminiscent of the flowing liquid electricity that characters drink and are energized by in 1982’s TRON . Beer makes a brief appearance in the real world.

The TRON that hit theaters nearly three decades ago was an Alice in Wonderland -like fantasy that threw a guy into a video game world called The Grid. Looking back, the story was kind of goofy. But that was OK back then, because none of us had a clue about computers anyway. They were still mysterious monstrosities filling up huge science labs someplace. Oh, and they had lots of blinking lights and were fronted by reel-to-reel tapes.

So TRON , with all its new “computer graphics,” seemed cool. It had zipping light cycles, electrified outfits, laser luminosity and computerized music. (Well, it sounded computerized, anyway!) It also spawned one of the gnarliest arcade games of the day.

Translating all that to 2010 is a task of Googleistic proportions.

This is the age when everyone is intimately familiar with all things computerized and digital. Today we have video games built into everything from our home theaters to our touch screen phones. Which means that if you even pause for a moment to consider this new TRON’ s massaged storyline and porous logic (or why it’s even called TRON at all) your high-tech mind will probably start to balk and blink and spin.

TRON: Legacy , however, never demands that you work that hard. It simply whisks you into The Grid’s fantasyland and wows you with dazzling visuals, a pulse-pounding soundtrack … and fast-moving light cycles. It also wields an involving good guy/bad guy confrontation that’s as instinctively recognizable as the clickity-click of a terminal keyboard.

The result is a cheerful, colorful and solidly PG popcorn piece that won’t leave you deep in thought. But it’s fun enough that you won’t really care why it’s called TRON .

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Speed racers in "Tron."

The interior of a computer is a fine and private place, but none, I fear, do there embrace, except in “Tron,” a dazzling movie from Walt Disney in which computers have been used to make themselves romantic and glamorous. Here’s a technological sound-and-light show that is sensational and brainy, stylish, and fun.

The movie addresses itself without apology to the computer generation, embracing the imagery of those arcade video games that parents fear are rotting the minds of their children. If you’ve never played Pac-Man or Space Invaders or the Tron game itself, you probably are not quite ready to see this movie, which begins with an evil bureaucrat stealing computer programs to make himself look good, and then enters the very mind of a computer itself to engage the villain, the hero, and several highly programmable bystanders in a war of the wills that is governed by the rules of both video games and computer programs.

The villain is a man named Dillinger ( David Warner ). The hero is a bright kid named Flynn ( Jeff Bridges ) who created the original programs for five great new video games, including the wonderfully named “Space Paranoid.” Dillinger stole Flynn’s plans and covered his tracks in the computer. Flynn believes that if he can track down the original program, he can prove Dillinger is a thief. To prevent that, Dillinger uses the very latest computer technology to break Flynn down into a matrix of logical points and insert him into the computer, and at that point “Tron” leaves any narrative or visual universe we have ever seen before in a movie and charts its own rather wonderful path.

In an age of amazing special effects, “Tron” is a state-of-the-art movie. It generates not just one imaginary computer universe, but a multitude of them. Using computers as their tools, the Disney filmmakers literally have been able to imagine any fictional landscape, and then have it, through an animated computer program. And they integrate their human actors and the wholly imaginary worlds of Tron so cleverly that I never, ever, got the sensation that I was watching some actor standing in front of, or in the middle of, special effects. The characters inhabit this world.

And what a world it is! Video gamesmen race each other at blinding speed, hurtling up and down computer grids while the movie shakes with the overkill of Dolby stereo (justified, for once). The characters sneak around the computer’s logic guardian terminals, clamber up the sides of memory displays, talk their way past the guardians of forbidden programs, hitch a ride on a power beam, and succeed in entering the mind of the very Master Control Program itself, disabling it with an electronic Frisbee. This is all a whole lot of fun. “Tron” has been conceived and written with a knowledge of computers that it mercifully assumes the audience shares. That doesn’t mean we do share it, but that we’re bright enough to pick it up, and don’t have to sit through long, boring explanations of it.

There is one additional observation I have to make about “Tron,” and I don’t really want it to sound like a criticism: This is an almost wholly technological movie. Although it’s populated by actors who are engaging (Bridges, Cindy Morgan) or sinister (Warner), it is not really a movie about human nature. Like “Star Wars” or “The Empire Strikes Back,” but much more so, this movie is a machine to dazzle and delight us. It is not a human-interest adventure in any generally accepted way. That’s all right, of course. It’s brilliant at what it does, and in a technical way maybe it’s breaking ground for a generation of movies in which computer-generated universes will be the background for mind-generated stories about emotion-generated personalities. All things are possible.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Tron: Legacy

Dove Review

“Tron: Legacy” is visually stunning! This movie has a heart and a wonderful theme even though it is encased in the guise of science fiction. Jeff Bridges returns in this follow up to the 1982 movie “Tron” and in this story which picks up years later, he is missing. His grown son, Sam lives with the burning question of why his father disappeared one night after leaving for work on his motorcycle. This is ultimately a story of sacrifice and a father’s love for his son. Of course before that, there is a lot of science fiction action and razzle dazzle and a few mysteries to be solved.

When father and son find each other, their reunion is bittersweet. Both have to re-learn what their relationship was like, and under the unnatural conditions of an electronic world that is literally closing in on them. Sam Flynn has to learn to forgive his father, Kevin after believing that he had abandoned him, while Kevin has to re-gain his faith in both his created world and in his son, who offers to help rescue him. The virtual reality is made up of “programs” invented by Kevin. Another life-form that was spontaneously generated from some code Kevin has written into the programs is a “virtual ghost” Clu (Kevin’s alter-ego) that shows up when the game appears to have a life of its own. We see “program” after “program” (all in human form, on-screen) hit by a symbolic boomerang of death and shatter into a million pieces. However, there is very little blood in this movie and the characters are inside a world of gaming and fantasy, although it seems very real to the participants.

We list the violent content for those who may be sensitive to this issue. However, since the violence is mostly within the fantasy world of the game itself, we approved “Tron: Legacy” for ages twelve and above. This is one the teens and sci-fi faithful will no doubt enjoy.

Dove Rating Details

The characters in the game appear life-like. They are shattered and destroyed within the game, but there is very little blood; a boomerang is used to injure and kill participants; sticks are used to do combat; a character jumps off a building; a character's crystal-like arm is shattered and then remade.

A female character wears tight clothing but there is nothing sexual on screen.

A drink that looks like a beer is consumed near beginning of film; a blue drink is consumed several times but what it is specifically isn't made clear.

Cleavage; shirtless men; a man is undressed and re-dressed by 4 women in virtual reality, without seeing anything of a graphic nature

A cooked pig is seen on a table; betrayal by a character; Zen is mentioned in the movie.

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Film information, dove content.

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TRON (1982)

"philosophical science fiction adventure".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Some suggestive statements.

More Detail:

Disney’s Tron is a philosophical science fiction masterpiece, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. Kevin Flynn is the brightest computer programmer and hacker at ENCOM, a major technology and virtuality developer. However, his creative efforts in the form of numerous programs and games are frustrated when a man named Dillinger pirates his ideas and designs, takes credit for Flynn’s work, uses it to rise in the company ranks and later fires Flynn when he finds him digging into the intellectual theft. Flynn’s friend, Alan, who is still with the company, has a security program called Tron which he has put into the company’s virtual game world. Alan’s girlfriend, Lora, who also still works at ENCOM, has helped to build a “digitizer” – a machine which can transport biological things and beings from the real world to the game world. The game world is administered by the Master Control Program (MCP), which learns and grows at an alarming rate, has become self-aware, and is now controlling the leadership of ENCOM. When Flynn reenters ENCOM with the help of Alan and Lora, he challenges the MCP to a virtual game in order to break into the system and find evidence of Dillinger’s theft. The MCP uses the digitizer to put Flynn “on the game grid” of the virtual world where he must participate in gladiatorial challenges to stay alive and find what he’s looking for. Can Flynn connect with Alan’s Tron program to expose ENCOM’s intellectual property theft and, more importantly, defeat the dystopian evil of the MCP?

Tron is a powerful science fiction epic. Despite its dated graphics, its story and themes remain as relevant as they were 40 years ago in 1982. It is a lovingly crafted work of sci-fi storytelling with engaging characters and strongly biblical imagery. The game world is very creatively depicted as a place of great promise and challenge which has been taken over by a malevolent force. Real life characters, to whom viewers have become connected, have in-game avatars that are exact images of themselves so that empathy is not lost and even mere “programs” are humanized in ways that make them meaningful and keep the viewer invested in their plight. The nature of the in-game world is such that it offers a journey of challenging action adventure in pursuit of a good and honorable goal. The movie is of a very high quality, characterized by thoughtful and creative storytelling, excellent writing, and overall good production values. Repeated viewings of Tron are helpful in detecting its several complex and nuanced layers.

One unique and notable way in which the movie stands out is in its biblical worldview and very clear Christ imagery. The imagery of the two worlds – the real world and the game world – is used brilliantly to point to the biblical cosmological understanding of the two levels of reality – the uncreated and created. The movie presents a thought-provoking parallel to the relationship of the higher reality of the uncreated Creator and the lower created reality of his creatures (men and women) with the relationship of programmers, like Flynn and Alan, and their programs, like Tron. This primary philosophical element of the story is seen in that Tron and the Tower Guardian maintain a firm belief in the higher reality of their “creators” (whom they refer to as “users”) while the MCP and his minion programs are trying to convince everyone that the virtual world is all there is and that the users do not exist. A Command Program who is the right hand of the MCP makes this abundantly clear in a speech he gives to Flynn: “Those of you who continue to profess a belief in the users will receive the standard sub-standard training which will result in your eventual elimination. Those of you who renounce this superstitious and hysterical belief will be eligible for joining the warrior elite of the MCP.” This is a clear parallel to Satan’s attempt to convince humans that the Creator doesn’t exist. The view of the two levels of reality is a metaphysical message of immense importance and is a key point of conflict between the biblical worldview (which believes that there is a Creator and his creatures) and all other worldviews (which believes that this world is all there is).

There is one point at which the writers are inconsistent with this strongly biblical imagery, when Tron assumes that, as a user, Flynn has a plan to defeat the MCP, and restore order; Flynn’s response is that humans are limited in knowledge and power like the programs they make. While this is simply to admit the finite nature of human “sub-creators” (J. R. R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-stories”, p. 23), it does weaken the imagery a bit since our Creator certainly does have a plan. Yet, this is minor in light of the movie’s climactic final battle. At Central Control, a red, unambiguously satanic MCP broods over his victims as he seeks to devour more and more programs, to assimilate them into himself and to ultimately come to dominate all life. In order to overcome the evil, Flynn must be self-sacrificial and dive into the heart of darkness to conquer chaos, which is demonstrably reflective of how Christ was willing to selflessly suffer hell for his people and overthrow the Enemy.

Finally, the movie is also largely exemplary in the realm of problematic content. There is brief foul language, the violence is not gory in any way, although some programs look like their users, and their injuries or deaths could thus be disturbing to younger viewers, adolescents, or sensitive adults. There are also a few scary images, such as the appearance of the MCP. There are a couple scenes of kissing and an implied love triangle. One male character is briefly shirtless. However, as a whole, the movie may be enjoyed by nerds and non-nerds, older children (with some caution) and adults alike.

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Tron: Legacy

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Watch Tron: Legacy with a subscription on Disney+, Hulu, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Tron Legacy boasts dazzling visuals, but its human characters and story get lost amidst its state-of-the-art production design.

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Joseph Kosinski

Jeff Bridges

Kevin Flynn

Garrett Hedlund

Olivia Wilde

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Todd mccarthy’s review of ‘tron: legacy’.

There are good reasons why Disney's sequel to the 1982 "Tron" took three decades.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Jeff Bridges

But, seen today, the film is so incoherent and groaningly scripted as to be tolerable only if watched in a rude Mystery Science Theater 3000 frame of mind. Kids who caught the original at 12 when it came out are 40 now and may recall it through a fog of uncritical nostalgia, which may help account for Disney’s wise decision to delay the release of a spruced-up Blu-Ray edition until early next year (at least in Los Angeles, DVDs of the first film have been essentially impossible to come by in video stores in recent weeks, even in the remaining specialist shops).

The mildly surprising news, then, is that there are aspects of Tron: Legacy that are actually rather cool. Granted, these mostly fall within the realms of architecture, interior design and advanced motor racing techniques, but they are blessed compensations nevertheless. The fact that you get two (or three, depending upon how you count) incarnations of Jeff Bridges isn’t a bad deal either, although it all ends up being a half-hour too much of a just okay thing. Like the original, the follow-up should do decent business, especially in 3D engagements, where the dynamic staging of the action scenes will be be seen to greatest effect, but fall short of the box office Nirvana achieved by top-drawer sci-fi and fantasy films.

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In fact, the recent film Tron: Legacy most resembles — in its lustful embrace of high technology, the combat-game format, corporate control angle, enduring father-son allegiance and fundamental silliness — is the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer . To be fair, the premise of the current film is more intriguing, as it’s built around a rescue mission in which, to retrieve Dad, the son must venture into the grid designed by his father but subsequently taken over by “programs” led by his old man’s doppleganger.

That the grid is a perilous place is quickly discovered by Sam Flynn ( Garrett Hedlund ), who, in his late 20s, is still pissed that his genius pop Kevin disappeared on him a couple of decades earlier. Vengefully playing elaborate pranks on his missing father’s giant technology firm Encom, zooming around city streets on his motorcycle and living a cutting edge downtown life, Sam is soon lured to his old man’s shuttered video arcade, where he finds the long elusive key that will allow him to follow his father into another sphere.

Aping the immortal moment in The Wizard of Oz when the mundane monochromatic palette of Kansas gives way to the riotous colors of Oz, Tron: Legacy bursts from 2D into nifty 3D at the 24-minute mark, when Sam breaks through into the grid. Almost at once, he’s all but literally thrown to the lions when forced to put his biker background to good use (with his squinty-eyed looks and prove-it-to-me attitude, Hedlund does throw off some Steve McQueen vibes) during a deadly high-speed race in a darkly suggested gladatorial-style arena seemingly big enough to accommodate the entire population of Chicago.

This sequence is not only the most exciting in the film but also provides a handy point of comparison to the original and to how far digital effects have come in the intervening years. In the first Tron , the race was an almost entirely geometric affair, with the motorcycles traveling as if on a child’s Etch-A-Sketch board and crashing into opponents’ contrails. It truly did feel like little more than a one-dimensional video game with no environmental component.

By contrast, compelling design elements are a hallmark of Legacy . Illuminated Philip Johnson-style glass enclosures hang dramatically against nocturnal backdrops, while uniforms and aerodynamically designed motorcycles are strikingly defined by their lights and colors — orange and red for the grid-based programs, blue and white for the outsiders. The streaks of light, combined with three-dimensional twists and turns by the rocketing bikes, the eye-widening way “programs” disintegrate upon impact and the power techno score by Daft Punk create a novel and fully realized action set piece limited only by the anonymity of all but one of the participants.

Before long, director Joseph Kosinski , whose background lies in high-end commercials, and scripters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz must settle down to the serious business of Sam’s reunion with his dad and figuring out how to extricate themselves from the prison of Kevin’s own devising. Turns out the inventor slipped frequently into and out of the grid for some time before his “program” self, Clu, outstripped his creator and gained the upper hand. Kevin has since been kept under house arrest in the company of beauteous warrior Quorra ( Olivia Wilde ) in an abode that, in its immaculate whiteness, looks more than a bit inspired by Keir Dullea’s elegant final home in 2001: A Space Odyssey .

With ruling the grid having gotten old , the megalomaniacal Clu craves crossing over into the real world, setting up the battle royal between him and the makeshift Flynn clan. Despite some sharp effects, notably a combat aircraft that takes shape as the “pilot” zooms through the air, plus a bizarre turn by Michael Sheen as an obsequious white tuxed, cane-wielding nightclub showman, the film’s latter half bogs down in a redundancy of stand-offs and multiple endings..

Bearded and looking just a tad less scruffy as Kevin than he did in Crazy Heart , Bridges achieves many an actor’s dream by convincingly appearing much younger than his real self, both as Kevin in a scene set in 1989, and as fit, fortyish Clu. It would be ironic if the ultimate legacy of Legacy were not as a notable sci-fi achievement but as the film that convinced middle-aged actors that they should again be considered for young romantic leads.

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Tron: Legacy

The son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father's corrupted creation and a unique ally who ... Read all The son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father's corrupted creation and a unique ally who was born inside the digital world. The son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father's corrupted creation and a unique ally who was born inside the digital world.

• Joseph Kosinski
• Edward Kitsis
• Adam Horowitz
• Brian Klugman
• Jeff Bridges
• Garrett Hedlund
• Olivia Wilde
• 859 User reviews
• 489 Critic reviews
• 49 Metascore
• 10 wins & 52 nominations total

Top cast 57

• Kevin Flynn …

• Alan Bradley …

• (as Elizabeth Mathis)

• Half Faced Man

• Masked DJ's
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• Key Security Guard #1 - Ernie

• Young Man on Recognizer

• Disc Opponent #2 …
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Did you know

• Trivia The crowd voices during the disk battle in the beginning of the movie are actually the voices of the audience during the panel for the film at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con. The audience was instructed to stomp and chant to prompts shown on the large video screen, and the sound was recorded by techs from Skywalker Sound.
• Goofs Flynn's Arcade was supposedly locked up when Kevin Flynn disappeared in 1989. However when Sam is walking through the arcade, one of the machines is Mortal Kombat (1992) which was not released until 1992.

Kevin Flynn : Life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes.

• Crazy credits At the beginning of the movie, the title only says "TRON". Not until during the ending credits does the name "Legacy" get included in the title when it reappears.
• Connections Edited from The Phoenix Portal (2005)
• Soundtracks Separate Ways Written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain Performed by Journey Courtesy of Columbia Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User reviews 859

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• December 17, 2010 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Facebook
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• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Walt Disney Pictures
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• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $170,000,000 (estimated)
• $172,062,763
• $44,026,211
• Dec 19, 2010
• $409,912,713

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 5 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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Tron: Legacy

In Tron: Legacy we find Kevin Flynn, hacker-turned-digital God, learning that the perfect computer world he has created can come with unexpected consequences. It's sleek and shiny and fun to occupy and look at, but the people and programs who spend too much time there wind up yearning for the tangible things in the real world above, sick of pixels and aching to see a real, live sunset.

You can see where I'm going with this, right? In making his visually spectacular but emotionally bereft film about people trying to escape the digitized world they've created, first-time director Joseph Kosinski has somehow made a movie that's a metaphor for itself, and full of handy advice for audience members who may be anxious to get out this glitzy, oppressive universe after just two hours inside. Cribbing its plot liberally, and incoherently, from sci-fi adventures of the past and treating its actors more like computer programs than human beings with independent thought, Tron: Legacy creates a computerized and dark world that's intended to be terrifying, but falls so in love with its own digital trickery that it becomes the machine it supposedly rails against. It's a good-looking machine, sure, but one that's all clicking parts and no beating heart.

It's hard to overstate how dazzling this film is, packed with machinery made of light and characters in skintight glowing suits and looming city scapes lit through fog and the weathered, endlessly amused face of Jeff Bridges . The visual effects are the main draw here, just as they were in the first film, and especially in IMAX 3D it's a pleasure to be sucked into the grid and anticipate the next miraculous thing to appear on the screen-- up to a certain point. Though the film has no lack of technical skill, what's missing is the spark of imagination that makes places like Tattooine and Hogwarts and the Starship Enterprise feel so fully realized. Unlike the world of the first Tron , a visual representation of the nascent Internet, the digitized world here is fully created by Kevin Flynn, and carries with it a cold, alien precision that's eventually exhausting.

Before you get to any of this, though, there's half an hour of setup in the real world, in which we're introduced to Sam Flynn ( Garrett Hedlund ), scion of the ENCOM technology empire who we know is a rebel because he rides a motorcycle and disables security cameras with ease. There's a lot of corporate babble about the company abandoned by Sam's father Kevin Flynn (Bridges) when he mysteriously disappeared in the late 80s, what should have been a light caper scene played deadly serious to set up Sam's trickster potential, and a surrogate father-son moment with Kevin Flynn's old business partner Alan (Bruce Boxleitner), who suggests to Sam that his father might be communicating with him from across the digital divide. The prologue scenes do a nice job of connecting Tron: Legacy to its predecessor but have almost nothing to do with the story to come, and will be meaningless anyway to the 90% of viewers who never saw the first Tron and don't care to.

Once Sam enters the digital world (and the screen correspondingly pops into 3D, a neat effect) it's one big, pounding action bit after another, sensory overload that works fairly well until you realize you're an hour into the movie and your main character still doesn't have a goal or much of a personality. Eventually he's led by doe-eyed warrior chick Quorra ( Olivia Wilde , showing sparks of personality despite everything) to his missing father Flynn, who's retreated as some kind of Zen master to the edge of the digital world that's been taken over by his evil computer clone Clu (also Bridges, aged down with CGI and teetering constantly on the edge of the uncanny valley). Sam's got to get himself and his dad to the portal back to reality, stop Clu from taking over the world, protect his dad's identity disc that contains all knowledge, evade hordes of ever-present henchmen-- it's every adventure movie gimmick crammed into one journey, and it's just as chaotic as it sounds.

The moments that work best in the film are the ones relying heaviest on the technical elements, from a lightcycle battle early on that feels thrilling and visceral to a similar fight in the air that has slightly less impact only because it's more of the same. Topping all, though, is a brief scene with Michael Sheen 's Bowie-esque nightclub impresario and Daft Punk as the house DJ's who crank up the beat for a pretty awesome throwdown; everyone suddenly seems to be in a different movie, one with real stakes and a sense of humor, and though Sheen's wackadoo performance could have thrown a better film off the rails, it's a welcome respite from Tron: Legacy 's smooth and stern demeanor. In this oppressively art-directed and slick universe Sheen introduces the possibility of a wild card, and it's disappointing to return to the basics of good guys vs. bad guys and their final, inevitable showdown.

It's easy to blame former architect Kosinski for the fact that the actors seem frozen and somewhat adrift-- even Bridges, who gave so much life to the original Tron , is just coasting with a Zenned-up take on The Dude. But screenwriters Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis do no favors either, coming up with spectacularly clunky bits of dialogue, cramming in character development almost grudgingly, and turn in a third act that's fun but repetitive. For all the narrative time spent explaining the corporate structure of ENCOM or reminiscing about Flynn's good old days building the grid, the filmmakers never manage to make the world of Tron: Legacy feel like a real place. Who are the other programs who cheer Sam in the games early on? What about the super-hot computer chicks who greet him when he first arrived? I would never ask for more exposition in a film already crippled by it, just for meaning given to what we see-- maybe a few million knocked off the budget could have tightened the focus?

Watching this movie in 2010, when the effects are laser sharp and we still can't quite believe you can de-age Jeff Bridges so convincingly, Tron: Legacy is just dazzling enough to shock an audience into submission for two hours. But just as the original Tron 's cutting-edge effects have aged poorly in the last 28 years, it's hard to imagine the kids of the next generation-- or even next year-- putting up with all the clunkiness and disregard for human emotion. The cool factor may allow them to get away with it for the next few weeks of box office receipts, but once the sheen wears off-- and it always does-- we'll be left with a handful of pixels and the unavoidable memory of an opportunity wasted.

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend

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TRON: LEGACY Review

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TRON: Legacy is an odd sequel as it attempts to capitalize on the technologically groundbreaking but commercially unsuccessfully 1982 film TRON .  The original film has built up a cult following over the years and even managed to occasionally find its way into pop culture with South Park 's depiction of Moses resembling the Master Control Program and the YouTube celebrity "TRON Guy".  The sequel attempts to reinvent the series as sleek and cool, but the result is a simplistic visual style that attempts to mask a poorly-paced story filled with bland characters.  TRON: Legacy comes alive with an amazing score and some eye-catching set pieces, but the sequel makes this franchise look like it should be shutdown rather than rebooted.

It's been over twenty years since Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the hero of the original TRON , disappeared.  His son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) believes his dad to be "either chilling on a beach in Costa Rica or dead or both."  It turns out that Papa Flynn hasn't been relaxing on the Bernard Lomax Beach for Deceptive Corpses, but is actually stuck inside "The Grid", a virtual world he created with the help of Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) and an avatar, Clu (a digitally de-aged Bridges).  Unfortunately for Kevin, Clu took control of the world and the portal that would have allowed Kevin to return home.  Sam, responding to a page from his father's office, ends up getting sucked into the Grid and only has eight hours to make it out before the portal closes again.  It turns out Clu was behind the page and wants to use Kevin's identity disc to get out into the real world.  In its broad strokes, TRON: Legacy follows the exact same plot of TRON : Guy gets sucked into virtual world and in order to get home must battle an authoritarian ruler who has designs on the real world.

The sequel also suffers from the same problems as the original and then some.  What little character development is available feels forced and stilted.  Sam still feels hurt over why his father never came home twenty years ago, but it's nothing a little heart-to-heart while on a traveling on a Solar Sailer can't heal.  Sam's character arc is hampered by Hedlund's weak performance.  He never seems to take much joy or experience any wonder in his adventure.  It's the kind of stiff, detached performance that can cripple a straightforward adventure like this one.  Bridges doesn't fare much better although he at least injects some silly life into Kevin Flynn.  It seems that Kevin has become a hippie during his time in the Grid and while it makes sense that his slang wouldn't have evolved since 1982, it feels more like The Big Lebowski 's Dude has become stuck in the Grid rather than the freewheeling character TRON .

While the Flynns suffer from poorly executed character development, the supporting cast doesn't even get chances to change and grow.  Olivia Wilde has some fun as Quorra, an ally of Flynn's, and looks like she could be a cool and engaging character...until the film quickly shuts her down and tries to pull focus onto light-vehicles chasing each other.  Michael Sheen plays a scenery-chewing nightclub owner and his zany character is a relief in the cold, sterile environs of the Grid.  But he barely has any time to breathe before the film realizes someone is having a good time and moves to rectify that grave error.  Any time "joy" seems to enter the picture, it's as if an alarm sounds and TRON: Legacy screams angrily, "Who's having fun in here?!" and then pulls away to either dull conversations or the hi-tech failure of Clu's face.

If the technology were as advanced as it needed to be, Clu could be a marvel and we would be dazzled by a young Jeff Bridges giving a performance as if he hadn't aged a day.  Instead, Clu is a grotesque distraction who sets up residence in the Uncanny Valley and never leaves.  Some will argue the problem is in the dead eyes, but my issue with Clu is that he looks like he doesn't have enough muscles in his face.  Rather than being invested in Clu's motives for wanting to escape from the Grid, I was left wondering what he would want to do in our world other than scare small children and be a spokesman for Botox abuse.

Most of the other special effects fare better, but they exist in a hollow, poorly-defined world.  It's awesome seeing light cycles and light jets fight each other, but it eventually all comes down to a black-and-neon blur.  The Grid is a place of nifty architecture and design, but it feels lifeless.  The original TRON at least had the creativity of ascribing personalities to programs.  Programs were made in the image of their user so, for example, an accounting program is an overweight nerd who is probably going to get his ass handed to him in disc wars.  With the exception of a hapless program we see when Sam first enters the Grid, the world appears to be inhabited by supermodels.  Presumably, Kevin and Clu wanted "perfection" and these "programs" are a physical manifestation of that desired perfection.

But these programs, and indeed the whole world of the Grid, are all form and no function.  There's no culture or reason to the world.  One of the programs, Gem (Beau Garrett), is seen carrying a parasol even though there's no sunlight and no rain in the grid.  It's there because it makes her look cool and that, in a neon-laced nutshell, is the rhyme and reason behind the majority of TRON: Legacy : "Because it looks cool."

And yet that "cool" look eventually wears out its welcome because there's not much to it.  I remember watching the special features on The Fellowship of the Ring DVD and director Peter Jackson talking about how they put orcish inscriptions on the inside of the gauntlets.  No audience member would ever see it, but it helped add character and detail to the world.  The only details of TRON: Legacy are "needs more neon".  That visual style is impressive when we see wide shots of chase scenes, but the close-ups are just a muddle of black and neon and it becomes difficult to follow the action.

What's actually cool and always welcome in TRON: Legacy is the score.  Composed by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, the music pulses with deep bass and skillfully utilizes tempos that range from the solemn ("Adagio for TRON") to the triumphant ("Flynn Lives") to the pulse-pounding ("Derezzed").  It's a score that works well on its own and is far better than the movie that inspired it.

In his debut feature, director Joseph Kosinski shows he has a strong eye for style and choreographing wide vistas of action, but his TRON seems afraid of its own shadow (if it could see a shadow).  The film either stays away from lighthearted enjoyment and then swings wildly into maudlin, awkward conversations as if inserting emotional beats and character development were as easy as inserting another digital explosion.

TRON: Legacy is a frustrating and at times downright boring affair that has visual style to spare, but lacks any depth beneath its skintight black-and-neon exterior.  Characters are poorly developed (if at all), jargon is embarrassingly shoehorned into the dialogue without any consideration given to what arguments about open-source and piracy actually mean, and for all the attention given to the design of the special effects and the vehicles, the actual world and life of the Grid seems to have been either ignored or forgotten.  And while the amount spent on marketing for TRON: Legacy has ensured it won't be ignored, the film itself is likely to be forgotten.