I'd never seen the original 'Tron', nor did I really know much about it. I'd only heard the movie referenced in other things on occasion (like that one episode of The Simpsons where Homer's trapped in the Third Dimension and asks if anybody saw the movie 'Tron', and everyone answers "No". I was in the same boat as them). The previews for 'TRON: Legacy' looked visually stunning, and I'm happy to report it does not disappoint in that regard. Everything seen inside 'The Grid' is a wonder to behold/a visual feast. But is this the only good thing the film has going for it? Well...yes and no. As far as the characters/actors who portray them are concerned, Garrett Hedlund is decent as Sam Flynn. Yes, he has to utter some clunky dialogue along the way and is a bit stiff at times, but he serves the role well enough. At times he reminded me of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (what with the pulling out of lightsabers...I mean discs, donning of cloaks, etc), though thankfully he's not half as bad as that guy.
Jeff Bridges gives a solid performance as Sam's dad, Kevin Flynn, and the father/son relationship he has with Sam is central to the film. The only thing that detracts from his performance is his character's digitized clone, Clu. No matter how hard they've tried to create a youthful-looking Jeff Bridges using computer magic, he *still* looks like a "cartoon" (as someone in the audience put it when I saw the movie at the theatre). While it's annoying, it would have at least been tolerable had it been limited to just the scenes inside The Grid (though it still would've raised the question of why he looked so fake while everyone else looked so real). However, the movie starts in the real world with a "young" Kevin Flynn telling his son the story of Tron/The Grid, and you can plainly tell the drastic difference between a real and fake Jeff Bridges. It's so obvious and very distracting.
Meanwhile, Olivia Wilde kicks butt and looks great doing it (in her neon light-up skintight catsuit and her asymmetrical wig) as the warrior, Quorra. She seems to be having WAY more fun with this role than she ever did in her role of Thirteen on the TV series House. Quorra's joyous laughter at odd times gives her an endearing quality, she has a slight naivety about her in regards to some things (which allows for some comedic moments) and displays a sense of childlike wonder (especially in the film's final shot). Wilde and Hedlund share some good scenes together, and her character at least gets *some* development...which is more than I can say for the albino-like "Siren", Gem (Beau Garrett, who looks visually interesting...but there doesn't seem to be much else going on with her). Faring better is Michael Sheen as as Castor/Zuse. While he does tend to "ham it up" a bit, at least he provides one of the film's more memorable performances.
Apart from the animation of Young Kevin Flynn, there are a couple of other 'minuses' of the film, like the dialogue (which at times isn't great) as well as the fact that the beginning is somewhat slow/kinda boring and things don't really get moving until we are transported along with Sam inside The Grid. However, once we're in there...the visuals most certainly make up for these minor quibbles. The movie looks STUNNING. There's the "games", which mostly seem to involve throwing discs (which resemble Xena's round killing thing) at each other, causing those who are hit to "derez" (ie. Cease to exist). Then there's the Light Cycles, Light Runners, and all modes of "Light" transportation which make for thrilling action/chase sequences. Another 'plus' of this film is its excellent score which adds SO much to the movie's atmosphere. While some fans of the original film may or may not like this one, for someone like myself (who this movie introduced to the 'Tron' world for the first time), it was quite entertaining and probably the best 'Tron' sequel you're ever going to get.
