Review: TRON: Legacy (Joseph Kosinski. 2010)

Everything a sequel should be; sexy, stylish and superbly entertaining sci-fi for fans of the original cult classic

After the disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) when he is still a child, son Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund) decides to go back to his dad's huge business empire Encom and finally search for him, taking him into the digital world of "The Grid" where he finds that his father has been residing for the past 20 years. However, the world Kevin Flynn once created in 1982 has changed and evolved, and become overrun by tyrannical counterpart, and so, along with the help of fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), the trio must do battle against this overlord inside this visually stunning computer universe.

I loved this film! Technically incredible on just about every level, a feast for the eyes and ears, a totally mind-blowing 3D experience. Superbly choreographed action set pieces, a fantastically sexy and stylishly futuristic art and design style, a brilliant fusion of electronic and orchestral music (Daft Punk is an inspired choice and do one hell of a job, easily the stars of the show along with the visuals), and an intriguing, well developed (if slightly confusing at times) story driven by quality actors (Jeff Bridges is excellent in dual roles as are Garett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde and Micheal Sheen who is gold whatever he does), fantastic 3D (love how it kicks into 3 dimensions only when you are transported into The Grid), and all in all an awe-inspiring sequel that continues to revolutionise in the same way the original did. The world of Tron looks stunning with beautiful visuals ranging from awesome bikes and other assorted vehicles to sexy costumes all shining with florescent neon colours, a mix of sleek black and cool blue adorned with a fluorescent hue which looks deliciously unique and beautifully original.

I was never a fan of the original movie but this has got me interested in it again as the story is very interesting, i'd say it's another example of a sequel done right in both respecting the original and expanding on it, and joins the ranks of other great sequels which not only match their originals but in some ways surpasses them, if not all. I would probably say it exceeds the original as i enjoyed this one a lot more, but i don't want to downgrade the original which is a landmark film ahead of it's time.

However, when seen back to back with the original, they make two great sides of the same coin. If the original is underrated or a cult classic, then it's about to become more loved, respected and praised because Legacy really has updated the form and got me interested in the world of The Grid, and i'm sure a lot more people will find themselves falling in love with it as well and admiring the work of the original. The original must be seen to understand the sequel anyway (it pretty much continues directly from the last) so it will be great to have more people coming to it. Newcomers who haven't caught the original will be left perplexed, so Disney better get a move on and re-release the original on DVD/Blu-Ray because at the moment they have stopped making it, obviously planning to release it to tie in with the film, not very good when the original is essential viewing to understand this movie, a lot of people will be looking for it but denied access because it's out of print right now.

First time director Joseph Kosinski paints a stunning virtual world full of adrenaline pumping action sequences

My only complaints were the dodgy looking young Jeff Bridges (done with computer animation, at times he looked okay but the majority you could tell it was off and on the side of a Robert Zemeckis CG movie), an orchestral score that was very similar to Hans Zimmer scoring a Chris Nolan film (sounded like The Dark Knight or Inception at times with it's repetitive use of a few notes and droning noises which seems to be a recent trend with composers these days as i also noticed this in the recent score for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, but the electronic side of the music fixed this issue so Daft Punk did great overall) and the often confusing plot which will only make sense to me once I see the original again, but otherwise this is quality sci-fi entertainment and well done, polished filmmaking; a superb sequel that brings the world of Tron back for a new generation. It's definitely a movie which takes the core element of what was so great about the first and updates it for modern audiences without losing what the purpose was about. It's a definitive sequel that does what a sequel should do very well; respecting it's source yet expanding on it and it's mythology- as well as respecting it's long term fanbase.

One of the best films of the year and possibly one of the best sequels ever, too. In a year full of strong movies anyway, Tron Legacy comes along as one of the last big movies, and one of the best, too! 2010 in film couldn't have finished on a better note.

9/10.

Review: Evil Dead Trap (Toshiharu Ikeda,1988)

A superb and highly underrated cult slasher horror that every genre fan should watch!

Looking at the title I thought it would be lame Evil Dead rip-off, but this is simply not the case. What it was however is a truly fantastic, creative and sickeningly brutal horror/slasher film with a very cool twist. Quite simply - brilliant!

Nami (Miyuki Ono) hosts a late night TV show specializing in the weird and bizarre. However, ratings for the show are sadly dipping- it's just not getting the viewers it should because the topics aren't interesting enough to gain audience's attention. As her producer tells her that the show will soon be cancelled altogether, twisted luck prevails. Nami finds a package on her desk addressed to her with a video which shows a camcorder recording showing directions to a secret location. Then it cuts to a scene of a woman being tortured. It's hard for her to watch, but curiosity prevails. Is it real? Is it fake? Is it a prank? Brave and determined and with nothing to lose, she decides to investigate further- after all, her job was at stake- and this could be just the story she needs to get ratings for her TV show back and possibly make it an even bigger success than it was before. Together with her film crew, they embark on following the strange video's directions which leads them to an abandoned warehouse where, unbeknown to them, will result in a terrifying night of sickeningly brutal ordeal as they realise the building is actually a glorified torture chamber rigged to the rafters with a variety of demented deadly death traps harboured by menacing monstrous murderers of which there is no escape!

This film was a real surprise for me, I wasn't expecting it to be any good but I was really, really impressed. Reminded me of a mix of the Saw and Phantasm series as well as inspired by classic Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava and other Italian/Giallo horror movies, complete with a very "Goblin"-esque/inspired soundtrack. Excellent direction, atmosphere, music, style (especially the use of some excellent camera angles and black and white photography) and some really wonderfully nasty special effects and gore- some of it was so convincingly well done that even I was reeling back in shock! The film was quite surprisingly unnerving as it features some very disturbing and disgusting imagery; from gratuitous scenes of sex and rape (the film stars Hitomi Kobayashi, a Japanese adult porn star who was very popular at the time, so it doesn't skip on nudity or graphic sex), to sick scenes of torture, violence, amputations and altogether relentlessly harsh death scenes executed in very fierce and creative ways. It really had a bit of everything and done really well providing some very good and unpredictable scares. A horror fan really couldn't ask for anything more.

A surprise at every corner for poor Nami in this hellhouse of horrors!

What I especially loved about it is that it was just refreshing to see a Japanese/Asian horror movie that didn't deal with curses, ghosts and freaky girls with long black hair covering their face like Asian films have been for the last 10 years or so. Before that trend got popular and overdone, here the Japanese were experimenting with some proper straight up sick slasher/snuff/splatter ideas with some insane imaginative flair that was really cool for a change (even though Japanese movies are now ditching the ghost/curse theme and going back to insane crazy gore/splatter stuff now). But this was cool and creative, 80s style, that really stood up well as something unique and special. Director Toshiharu Ikeda really has created something landmark here, it's a shame the film is so unfairly underrated as hardly anyone I know has heard of it and it hardly ever gets mentioned. But those that do will always be gushing about it! It's a must watch movie, highly recommended for all horror fans, especially if you love 80s horror with a good dose of lovely gore! In my view- it's a classic.

9/10