Modern remakes and nostalgia for the originally pretty lousy

Speaking of Tron: Legacy, I’m a little surprised by some of the reviews I’ve been reading. I haven’t seen the movie myself, so obviously, I’m not in a position to judge. But the word on the street seems to be that it’s pretty good, but it doesn’t measure up to the original film.

Remakes have to overcome this hurdle in order to succeed in theatres – and although Tron: Legacy is technically a sequel, it’s a sequel to a film that came out twenty-eight years ago. So the same rules apply, and Tron: Legacy is forced to compete not only with the original film, but with the fond childhood memories of everyone in the audience. And I think the case of Tron, more than any other I can name, illustrates how unfair this standard can be.

You know why? Because Tron sucked. Tron was an awful movie. No amount of “impressive by 1982 standards” computer animation can change that, and no amount of nostalgia for nerdy youth can obscure it.

Again, I haven’t seen Tron: Legacy. But whenever someone tells me that it’s not as good as Tron, I can only assume that either it’s really awful, or that person is just looking back at Tron through a rose-coloured helmet and bodysuit.

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