"TRON: Legacy"

Action/Adventure, Science Fiction and Sequel. Rated PG. 2 hours, 7 minutes.

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Kevin Flynn welcomes his son Sam (Garret Hedlund) into The Grid in this sequel to the 1982 cult classic. The elder Flynn disappeared in the mid-80’s, and now his son thinks the old Flynn arcade holds the secret to finding him.

Once he lands in the digitized world, Sam encounters Clu (also portrayed by Bridges), a program that has made life difficult for Kevin Flynn by taking control of The Grid and casting out its creator and the beautiful and talented Quorra (Olivia Wilde).

Only two actors return from the original TRON, Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, who plays Alan Bradley. However the youthful faces of Hedlund and Wilde are a welcomed presence who bring with them charm, humor, and their good looks.

The film’s score, provided by Daft Punk, almost makes you believe that you are back in 1985, thanks to its upbeat techno sounds. The occasional Journey song also helps.

No matter how good the acting or music is, what is going to draw in viewers is the visuals. A lot has changed since 1982, when the original TRON came out, which means The Grid has an updated look. TRON looked revolutionary for its time, but looks incredibly dated and primitive now. Thus the need for Disney to reintroduce the franchise to the younger audience. There are still Light Cycle battles, but the riders are doing much more than just making perfect 90-degree turns. The two best action sequences involve the aforementioned Light Cycles and the climactic chase scene involving Light Jets.

I could have used one or two more big action sequences like that in the middle of the movie. Once the Flynns are reunited, the action seems to take a back seat. Another complaint I have involves Bridges. While he is a fantastic actor, if I wanted to see him play The Dude, then I would have just rented The Big Lebowski. In TRON: Legacy, he throws in a few too many uses of the words “dude,” man” or “Zen” for someone who possessed the knowledge necessary to be considered a computer programming super-genius.

I still enjoyed the film immensely, and believe that most who venture out to the theater and shell out the extra money for the 3D glasses will feel the same way. Fans of the original will be pleased, as well as fan boys of many other sci-fi franchises (there are so many Star Wars references I fully expected to hear “Imperial March” when the bad guys made an appearance).

OVERALL RATING: B

Photo credit: Walt Disney Pictures

TRON: Legacy movie poster