TRON: Legacy (2010)

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Overview:

A sequel to the 1982 original that is set just about 20 years after the original. Kevin Flynn, his role reprised by Jeff Bridges, has begun to turn the grid into a utopia. Directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Tron's director, Steven Lisberger, Legacy makes homages to the original while continuing the story of what happened so many years later. We follow Sam Flynn, Kevin's son, who was abandoned after Kevin was trapped in the computer by his evil copy Clu.

The film itself got mostly positive reviews for having great style and soundtrack but some cited acting performances as a slight downfall. At the box office the film did really well so much so that another sequel is reportedly in the works.

Plot Summary

Sam sees his dad for the last time before his mysterious disappearance

Tron Legacy begins with Kevin Flynn telling 7 year old Sam Flynn a story. About a world with disc battles and light cycles. He mentions a miracle has happened. Then he leaves his son to go to work. He promises to come back home and gives his son a quarter to beat his high score.

Kevin Flynn never came back. ENCOM, the business he ran, flounders without him and is restructured for profit. Sam is taken care by his grandparents because his mother died a couple of years ago.

Years pass until Sam Flynn is 27 and is speeding on a Ducati motorcycle. A policeman chases him through traffic and he loses him by going onto the off ramp at the last second. He parks his bike and goes to the back entrance to ENCOM. At the lock, he hacks into it with his phone until it opens. He echoes his father's word with “That's a big door.”

Inside a board meeting is going on with Alan Bradley. The meeting is about the new release of their operating system. Alan asks what's the difference between ENCOM version 12 and their previous versions. The chairman of the board answers that they put 12 on the box. The lead programmer, Edward Dillinger, tells Alan that it is the most secure version yet.

Meanwhile Sam is in the stairwell and disables a security camera for a few moments. He infiltrates the server room but not without stepping through the laser tripwire. That sets off an immediate alarm at the security office. The security guard drops his coffee and runs to the room. At a server in the back Sam downloads onto his phone. The download finishes in time before the guard catches him. The guard finds the data tray open and a figure run out the door.

In the board room the countdown for the release of their OS looms close so the chairman hits a keystroke to show it off. A video of a dog loops on the screen. They scramble to turn it off. Edward manages to turn it off before the countdown ended. Alan finds that their new OS has just been leaked onto the internet for free. Edward tells the chairman to spin this disaster as ENCOM being generous.

Sam Flynn, heir to a legacy

On top of ENCOM tower stands Sam. The security guard follows him. Sam confides to him that he is the biggest share holder of ENCOM right before he leaps off. Near the bottom he parachutes into a lamp post. The cops start closing in so he frees himself from the post. He lands on the roof of a taxi. The taxi driver screams at him about no free rides and tries to shake him off. Police cars barricade the road causing the taxi to stop. Sam rolls down the wind shield. He gets up quickly and jumps over the two cars consecutively. He stops when the helicopter shines it's beacon on him and he gets surrounded.

“Okay. You got me guys.”

The next scene shows Sam leaving the police station and picking up his bike from the impound lot. He drives home which looks to be a garage by the sea. Inside he rests a moment then asks Alan what he is doing there. Alan says how interesting these annual charity moments are for someone who is so disinterested in the company. Sam thanks him for being a surrogate father but says he has it handled. Alan tells him the real reason he stopped by. He received a phone call to his pager, from a number that's been disconnected for 20 years. He says the number came from Flynn's arcade so he hands the keys over to Sam.

Sam in Flynn's Arcade

Sam drives over to the arcade. He opens the door and inside looks like an electronic museum. Plastic sheets adorn arcade cabinets and it looks like it's been deserted for years. He finds the power switch and turns it on. The cabinets hum with electronic beeps and whistles. Journey starts to play “Separate Ways” on the jukebox. He walks toward the prominent Tron arcade game and inserts a quarter. The quarter goes through the slot and falls out the change door onto the floor. Thus he notices large scratch marks going to the right. He pushes the machine which open to steps. As he walks down the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams” reverberate into the office he finds. He takes a quick look around and sees the empty desk. It lights up to his presence and he wipes away the caked on dust. He sits down and starts digging into the files. He finds a command for a laser and starts it up. Instantaneously he is transported.

Recognizer spots Sam

Disoriented, he gets up and runs outside. There he sees this digital world and doesn't believe what he sees. A spotlight finds Sam so he throws his arms up in surrender. After a few blinding moments he sees that it's a Recognizer. It lands and two guards take him up. He is restrained and it flies towards the arena. He tries to talking to the other people trapped. It becomes evident that they are programs after seeing one with a pixelated hole in the face. At their destination each program is scanned. Most are designated for rectification and two for the games. The first one designated for the games commits suicide by jumping into a gigantic fan below. Sam is transported below where 4 female programs strip him of his clothes. They suit him up in arena garb and give him an identity disc. Gem, one of the programs, gives him some advice: to survive. They go back into their alcoves and he goes through the newly opened door.

Sam is forced to fight in the arena

The battle arena for disc fighting consists of trailer size rooms that can be moved about for combatants to face off. Sam's first fight has his opponent testing him. A nearby fight shows the effect of de-resolution. Sam takes out his disc and throws it. It bounces a couple of times and barely catches it. The fighter starts to break the floor hexes underneath Sam. He falls through but holds onto the ledge. He gets back out right before the disc would hit him. His opponent does a jump with an overhead smash so Sam breaks the panel where he would land. The opponent falls to his death.

The rooms detach and reattach to Sam's next opponent. He throws the disc while Sam slides forward and deflects the disc back at him. He breaks apart. Sam escapes the room and slides down another compartment. Eventually he falls into the final room with the current arena champion, Rinzler. Rinzler dual wields identity discs against Sam. He evades Rinzler and the gravity starts to change which is the floor and the ceiling. One of the discs scratch Sam's arm causing him to bleed. Rinzler recognizes it immediately and calls Sam a User. The fight ends immediately and Sam is taken to the overseer room.

There he meets Clu, who poses as his father for the conversation, which he takes Sam's ID. He watches his memory and sees how he came into their world. He confesses that he isn't Sam's father and has him taken to the light cycle arena.

New and improved lightcycles

Clu enters this fight for a 5 vs 5 match. Sam gets acquainted with the light cycle bar and enters the fray. A member of Sam's team tells him that the other team has faster bikes so they'll have to use the levels to their advantage. One by one Sam's team gets derezzed. Sam takes out one enemy with the death exhaust from the cycle. He teams up with the last remaining member and take out two enemies. Clu destroys the team member. Sam is rescued by Quorra in a 4 wheel vehicle. She shoots through the wall and punches through over the chasm. Clu ceases his chase at the hole.

Quorra mentions to Sam that they won't be chased because Clu's vehicles malfunction off the grid. They drive off to Kevin Flynn's base. Inside Sam meets his father while he is meditating. Kevin is now old and haggard. He is adorned in robes and has prayer beads on his right wrist. His place is white and sparsely decorated. After an initial talk, he says they will talk more during dinner. Quorra speaks to Sam about the book collection. She tells him that Jules Verne is her favorite.

Old man Flynn

Later on at dinner Kevin asks Sam some general questions about his life. Sam asks one: why didn't he come back. Kevin explains that he was creating a new grid with Tron and Clu. But a miracle happened, the sea of iso's. Programs that were borne of the digital world of their own accord. He became completely enamored by these evolutionary beings while Clu saw them as imperfections. Clu betrays Kevin and defeats Tron in an ambush. Clu rewrites Tron to be his servant. After that the portal closed leaving Kevin trapped inside. Enormous power is required to power it for it to remain open. So then it could only be opened from the outside. Clu begins his reign with the genocide of ISO beings.

Sam entering this world leaves the door open for 8 more hours. Kevin urges Sam to do nothing because Clu needs Kevin's ID to open the portal. Sam can't sit still and tries to recruit Quorra. Instead she tells him about a program named Zuse that was a friend a long time ago. He heads off in Kevin's light cycle towards the grid.

Sam enters the city easily and finds a homeless program. He trades the bike for the program's coat. Soon after he meets Gem again. She takes him up to Castor's bar. He meets Castor and says how he wants to meet Zuse. Castor takes him and Gem to a more private room.

Clu's advisor tells him that Flynn's light cycle has been found and that the point of origin has been detected. Clu and some troops head off towards Kevin's base. They find no one there. Clu picks up a metal apple and sees his own reflection. He has a flashback to when Kevin creates him and orders him to make a perfect world. Back in the present he backhands the bowl of fruit of the table. Right after he sees the view of the grid and heads back.

Sam meets Castor

Castor confesses that he is Zuse. He tells Sam that he will need to change his appearance and to forge an ID. While Clu's forces break into the bar. Sam realizes betrayal and jumps down onto the main floor. Quorra appears out of nowhere and fights until her left arm is disintegrated. Kevin enters the scene and powers down the place and causes programs to fight Clu's troops. He escapes with Quorra in Sam's arms. Right before the elevator door closes Kevin's ID is stripped by a grappling hook. A timed explosive goes off at the door and propels the elevator to the ground. Castor derezzes the trooper and takes the disc. While the elevator reaches terminal velocity, Kevin messes with the controls until it brakes before impact. On the ground floor they decide to make a break for the portal.

Clu meets Castor in his bar. Castor asks if their current deal of him ruling the city was still in effect. Clu makes a drink for him and exchanges it for Kevin's ID. Shortly after Clu's men put 4 bomb charges and leave. “Enjoy the drink,” says Clu before the explosions decimate the bar.

The solar sailer

The Flynns and Quorra take off in a solar sailer. Kevin has it change course over the sea of simulation. During their brief respite, Kevin takes out the bad code in Quorra so her arm starts reconstructing. He mentions to Sam that she will reboot soon and that she is an ISO. While waiting for her Sam tells Kevin about what he missed in the real world. She wakes up just a little before they enter Clu's invasion ship.

Inside of the ship is hundreds of rectified programs for Clu's army. Further in they see Tron patrolling. Quorra hands her ID to Flynn and distracts Tron. She becomes captured while they run through the nearby door. Quorra meets Clu thus he says he has something special planned for her. Kevin and Sam end up on a catwalk above the hangar bay as Clu descends into his speech of invasion of Earth. Sam tells Kevin to grab some wheels and he'll improvise.

On the flight deck stands one guard by a ship. Kevin sneaks up behind and overrides some programming. He tells the program that is taking the ship. The program tells him he isn't authorized so Kevin knocks him in the head. Then the program instantly relents and tells him to have a safe trip.

Sam and Quorra

Sam makes his way to the master control room. He fights through a couple of guards and enters the room with Kevin's ID. Clu's advisor just stands there and lets Sam take the disc. He grabs the advisor by the throat and demands to know where Quorra is. Right then her and Tron are by the door way. Quorra ducks so Sam throws Kevin's ID at Tron. It passes by and makes it way back. Quorra kicks Tron as Kevin's ID flies at him. Tron dodges both but is knocked outside. Sam helps Quorra up and snatches one of the apparatus wings. They leap out onto the flight deck and make it to Kevin's ship.

The ship starts up and flies off Clu's warship. Quorra pilots while Sam mans the turret. Clu finds the disc missing and destroys his advisor. Tron makes his way back through the open door. They and 3 other soldiers chase after the Flynns with light ships. A dogfight between the groups emerge with the energy exhaust as a factor. Many shots and barrel rolls later leave the turret disabled. Only Tron and Clu left to destroy them. Kevin sees Tron overhead and asks “What have you become Tron?” Tron hesitates before a killing blow and flies off. Clu goes in for another strike but Tron does a kamikaze attack. Both ships explode leaving them an unimpeded flight to the portal.

As Tron falls he is about to activate another light ship but Clu takes the bar from him. Tron falls into the sea and his colors change from orange to white. Clu flies away.

The group makes it to the portal but see Clu standing in the way. Kevin tries to reconcile with Clu but he knocks Kevin away. Sam throws a few punches but is beaten back towards the portal. Quorra uses a grappling hook and swings underneath to behind Clu. Kevin manages to egg Clu to take the disc off of him. The bridge starts separating. Clu finds the disc to be Quorra's. Sam holds Kevin's ID above his head activating the portal. Clu leaps to the other side of the bridge. He barely makes the ledge but tries to enter the portal. Kevin kneels down and sends a wave of energy that captures Clu in it's vortex. It sends Clu straight into Kevin and they reintegrate. An explosion of thermonuclear proportions rip through the portal structure and anything nearby.

Soon after Sam is downloading the program of Kevin's work into a data chip that has a LED light on it. He leaves the office and meets Alan in the arcade. Where Sam tells Alan that he wants to see him at 8am because Alan is the new chairman. Sam leaves the arcade to Quorra waiting outside by his bike. He wants to show her something so they ride off. Quorra finally sees a sunrise for the first time and smiles.