Movie Review - Tron: Legacy

Tron was one of those movie that was revolutionary in the '80s. Everything having to do with computers was so new, and different, and a movie about a guy getting sucked into a computer blew everyone away. The movie is still an icon in geek pop culture, and now, Disney has come out with a sequel, starring two actors who weren't even born when the first one hit theaters. Can it be any good? The reviews haven't been nice, will I be any different? Sure, why not.

After the events of the first movie, Kevin Flynn had ambitions of building a perfect world inside the electronic "grid" he was abducted to in the first movie. After things go wrong, and he disappears, he leaves his son, Sam to inherit his empire. But when Sam is taken into his fathers world, he must figure away to get him, and his father out, before Clue, Flynn's clone uses the portal to invade the real world.

From the get-go you would be thinking the trailer shows a lot of style over substance, and you would assume the movie would be more of the same, right? Well, to a certain extent, you are correct. The movie didn't have the undertones the first movie had. This one had the undertones of a popcorn movie, so if you look at it that way, you'll see the movie like I did and you will have a blast.

The movie has some of the most amazing CG I have seen. The obvious show point is Jeff Bridges alter-ego, Clue. They used the same technology as Benjamin Button to show a young Jeff Bridges opposite the current (i.e. old) Jeff Bridges. The results are very impressive. While not perfect, there is a glimpse of amazing, with a slight flaw here and there, which really describes the entire movie. The light-cycle battle, the disc fighting, and the light planes are all a sight to see.

There were some quite amazing parts to this movie that weren't the special effects. One being the soundtrack, composed by Daft Punk, it is electric, and intoxicating and everything the grid is supposed to be. It's used to perfection, and it made me go right home and downl...uhh, buy the soundtrack right away. The other good part of the film were the performances. Of course Bridges is good as the old Flynn and the young Clue, which is impressive, but Olivia Wilde was also good. She captured the innocence of a child perfectly, while at the same time had the combat abilities of an action star. Garrett Hedlund, who played Sam was good, and consistent, but didn't quite compare to his talented co-stars.

While Tron: Legacy will be remembered for not quite living up to expectations in critics eyes, I will remember it as a dazzling, fun popcorn movie that should have appeared in the summer, but instead, warmed the winter up, if just a bit. It was a fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed, and is a good companion to its predecessor.