Review of TRON: Legacy and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

I had the awesome opportunity to watch two new movies this week with friends and family- TRON: Legacy and Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader this week. Both awesome movies that I enjoyed, and below are my reviews. By the way, I know what some of you are thinking... "Wait... Prism reviews movies now??? WHAT?" Well, I rarely go see new movies, but we'll see if I can continue reviewing films.

My ranking:
1. TRON: Legacy
2. Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

TRON: Legacy:

Synopsis: In 1989, Sam Flynn’s father mysteriously disappeared one night after telling Sam about The Grid, a computerized world of programs who look and act like humans! Fast forward to today. Sam is a twenty seven year old who is content with messing around with ENCOM, a mega-corporation. Soon, his father’s old friend shows up saying that he has been paged by Sam’s father. This leads Sam to visit his dad’s old arcade and discover his father’s office, which leads him into The Grid. Sam finds this world a dark place, far from what his father had described. He soon discovers that his father’s creation, Clu, has turned against his father and plotted to take over the human world. Can Sam find his father and get to the portal to the real world in time?

The Good: I absolutely enjoyed this movie. I came into the theatre without a clue about what Tron was or even that it had a predecessor. This movie does well as a standalone; it didn’t take me long to grasp what everything was referring to or how things worked. (But I watched the original after seeing the movie, and a lot of seemingly random things in the movie suddenly made sense) So do I recommend seeing the original Tron before seeing the new movie? Well, yes… but the old one is a little boring at places and it is… well, old…
The new animations were absolutely brilliant. There are light bikes and jets that look really real. Kevin Flynn and Clu were expertly done (both portrayed by the same actor but computer effects are used to make the computerized character look young). The technology and scenery of The Grid is creative and I loved that it all seemed to tie together, as The Grid is supposed to be designed by Kevin Flynn alone.

My favorite character would have to be Quorra, who sacrifices herself for the Flynns several times and is absolutely tough. Quorra is Flynn’s assistant/apprentice who is a program. She is curious and intelligent, and she yearns to see the users’ world. The relationship between Sam and his father was really strong, and they are both willing to sacrifice for each other.
The music was also incredible. It fit the movie perfectly, and I’ve had one of the songs, “Derezzed”, stuck in my head for the past couple of days.

The Not-So-Good: There actually isn’t much I can say I disliked about this movie. The suits did tend to be a little skin-tight, especially on the sirens who suit Sam up for The Grid.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

We’ve all probably read the books and seen the first two movies; this movie doesn’t disappoint.

Synopsis: Edmund and Lucy are back with their cousin Eustace Scrubb in a new adventure in Narnia. The Pevensies have been stuck living with Eustace since the rest of their family went to America. Eustace is an absolutely terrible child- arrogant, mean, and an overall nuisance. The three soon get immersed (literally!) into the world of Narnia and join the crew of the Dawn Treader, whose leader is King Caspian. They must find the seven lords and defeat the ugly green mist that has been making people disappear.

The Good: I have read all of the books and seen both of the movies in this series, and I can attest that this is good material. It’s all adventure and action, and I absolutely loved seeing the characters grow and mature and learn good lessons. The main theme to me seemed to be temptation- overcoming it and yourself. Aslan is as wonderful as ever, the movies capture exactly how I imagined him as I read the books and dreamed of adventuring there.

The new character of Eustace was absolutely spot-on. His attitude changed totally and the actor portrayed him almost exactly as I imagined the character of Eustace to behave. I look forward to seeing how this character continues to grow in the movies to come. The character of Lucy has now matured and struggles with wanting to be beautiful as her sister Susan, and this is her giant to face. Edmund seemed very similar to Peter in this movie for me, he wants power and respect, but he too has changed from the Edmund in the first movie. We also get to see Reepicheep again. He was my absolute favorite character in the whole series when I read it as a child. He is instrumental in Eustace’s transformation from a bratty boy to a real person while keeping his charm. I loved seeing his soft side in this movie.

The movie sticks with the books enough for there to be “Oh, I recognize that!!!” moments yet it is creative enough to be new for old fans. Now, this may be considered a good thing or a bad thing to different people, but I did like the new elements and characters that fleshed out this movie.

I felt it was much for lighthearted and adventure-filled than the previous movies. The movie seemed to have more depth for me while retaining a fun spirit.

And was it just me, or did Caspian seem really different? I mean, this isn’t technically in the Good or Not-So-Good categories, but I felt as if the accent was a lot lighter and more British. Yes, I know the actor is British, but I thought it was a little funny.

The Not-So-Good: Again, not much I can say that I disliked about this movie. Can I say it’s the best of the series thus far? Yes. Can I say it’s the best movie I’ve ever seen? Not quite. The movie seemed boring at times for me, and to tell you the truth, I am a little annoyed by the White Witch now and how she seemed to require appearances in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to torment Edmund. I mean, if she shows up in the next movie (which is unlikely since Edmund may not appear unless in a cameo appearance), I might moan, “Aw, maaannnn!” right there in the theatre. But to be sure, my annoyance will soon be quelled by the overall excitement and child-like wonder I experience seeing the adventures of Narnia come to life.

Blessings,


P.S. Merry Christmas Eve!!!! Wow, it's almost here! May you all be blessed as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, tomorrow!

P.P.S. This is my 400TH post!!!! Wow!!!!! Thanks, y'all, for following!!!