Review:
TRON: Legacy

A lengthy wait between the original movie and the sequel is never usually a good sign. Take Universal Soldier: The Return, or Indiana Jones and the Film That Never Happened. With this, the sequel to one of the most important films of all time, the wait isn’t because the fans didn’t want it. In fact, it’s more to do with the original movie making very little money. It’s almost surprising that this overdue sequel ever happened, much less that it’s taken nearly thirty years to do so.

Mercifully, it’s actually rather good, boasting outstanding CGI visuals as well as dozens of new ideas that stand alongside the original, rather than try to overshadow it. Even Jeff Bridges resurrects his long-ago role as Kevin Flynn in order to establish continuity.

This time, however, the focus is one Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund), a moody youngster who should have taken over Encom in 1989 after his father disappeared. One night Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) informs Sam that he received a message from Flynn’s old office at the arcade – a number that’s been disconnected as long as Flynn’s been missing. Sam heads over to investigate, but an ancient laser beam powers up and draws the young man into a digital world – a place known as The Grid…

The most obvious difference between this film and the original Tron is the visuals. The CGI in here looks totally stunning throughout, with not a single frame looking off or wrong. In spite of how ludicrous the premise or how silly the ideas, everything looks real enough to convince. It looks as good now as the first films wanted to look back then.

Sadly this new-found realism hampers the one thing that fans love the original Tron for: its charm. This sequel looks as expensive as buying a small planet, but it doesn’t have that same delightful feeling or that childish innocence to it. The 3D technology is also breathtaking to behold, adding to the feeling of immersion in the world with its depth and detail. In a move similar to The Wizard of Oz, the filmmakers decided to only use the 3D effect on the scenes inside The Grid, which adds to the power of those sequences. It is also a slight dick move, because The Wizard of Oz never charged extra for the two thirds of the film that were in colour.