Tron: Legacy review

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Composer: Daft Punk

Number of tracks: 22

Total time: 58:36

Overview:

It was a long time coming, but in 2010 Disney finally released the long awaited sequel to the 1982 popcorn movie classic Tron. The original Tron was a fun (if silly) romp through the "computer world" and is best remembered for it's ground breaking visual effects which are still impressive today.

Tron: Legacy follows the story of the son of the hero from the first film going into the digital world to save his father (Jeff Bridges) who has been stuck there for years. Obviously not a very deep premise, but it looks to be loads of fun (much like the first Tron).

Musical duties for the new film were handed to the synth/dance-pop group Daft Punk (actually a duo who have been quite popular in Europe since the 1990's). For most film score fans (myself included) this immediately sends up red flags. Surprisingly, the finished product is a masterful blend of retro synth textures and real orchestra that is both fascinatingly constructed as well as incredibly fun to listen to.

Review of the music:

The first thing you notice about the score to Tron: Legacy is just how much a traditional orchestra plays into the sound scape. Daft Punk went out of their way to hire and get tips from some of the finest orchestral composers for their task on TL to give the score a more accessible sound. This included help from Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Bruce Broughton with most of the orchestral ingredients handled by Joseph Trapanese.

Thanks to the use of a traditional orchestra along with the synths, this makes the score much more enjoyable than just a straight synth soundtrack. Though, just because an orchestra is used with synthetic elements does not mean it will be good. Thankfully, this is one of those cases where the electronic and organic elements mesh perfectly... much to this reviewers relief.

There are two primary themes in Tron: Legacy, a central theme and a love theme. The Main theme is introduced in the opening "Overture" cue in a mostly orchestral setting before getting a mostly synth rendition in the following track "The Grid". The Love theme is first heard during "Adagio for Tron" and is an appropriately moving piece. A very minor gripe about the themes and motifs is that they are relatively simple and sound akin to the modern Hans Zimmer blockbuster variety of themes. Thankfully though, the orchestrations save the themes from becoming dull or boring.

While most recent blockbuster hybrid scores have seemed content to overuse the synthetic instruments and even go so far as to make the live orchestras sound synthetic, Daft Punk wisely leave the synths and orchestra to themselves. The thing that makes this score so great is the way the synths and orchestra mesh so well in the orchestrations and recording, neither element seeming out of place with the other. Tron: Legacy is equally as much an orchestral score as it is an electronic score.

Despite this praise, there are some problems with the album presentation of the music. The most obvious (and annoying) problem is with some of the cues included on the album. "End of the Line" and "Derezzed" are rather annoying all synth mid 80's dance club sounding cues, while "Fall" is simply irritating with its distorted synth line running through the entire track. I'm sure these cues work well in the film, but on album they are simply annoying.

Another slight issue is the fact that all the tracks center around one theme or motif which is repeated multiple times. Fortunately the themes and orchestrations are interesting enough that this is not a major problem, but the album is on the repetitive side.

Closing thoughts:

Despite my first impressions of this score, I have found myself really enjoying Tron: Legacy. It's by no means a masterpiece, but it is a fun hybrid score that shows that even tired ideas can still be reinvented in new, fresh ways. It's also a blast to hear classic 80's sounding synths in a recent score alongside a large orchestra.

If it wasn't for the three annoying tracks and the slight repetitiveness of the music, this would be a four star album. As it is, I have to bump half a point from the overall score due to the above. Still, this is a soundtrack I would recommend picking up or at least giving a try. Even if you are traditionally a purely orchestral score type of person, give this a try. Who knows, you may end up like me and like it.

Score:

3 1/2 out of 5