December 18, 2010 -- It's been so long since I saw the original “Tron” movie in 1982, I'm not going to try to compare the two films, except to say the first was a groundbreaking film, while the new film is not. This is another in a long series of movies which bring video and computer games to life. That being said, the visuals are stunning in “Tron: Legacy.” The story? Not so much.

This film picks up, not from where the old film left off, but years later, when Kevin Flynn's son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund of “Friday Night Lights”, has grown up as the unwilling heir to his father's software empire, which seems a lot like Microsoft. Sam doesn't know what became of his father (played by Jeff Bridges of “Crazy Heart”). He has abandonment issues. Responding to a mysterious message, he goes to his father's old arcade, where he discovers his fathers secret lab, where he is transported into the virtual reality of a computer world. There, he discovers his father is still alive. His computer software alter ego is also alive and well. This computer program has turned evil and has taken over the virtual reality environment.

In order to escape, Sam must travel to the terminal in less than eight hours before it closes. Kevin doesn't want to risk the journey because if his computer disk is captured, aggressive computer programs could escape into the real world, where they could cause great damage. Kevin also tells Sam that new life forms have spontaneously been created in this virtual world, self-generating people, wiped out in a terrible campaign similar to ethnic cleansing. Sam decides to try to get to the terminal, escape to the real world and there prevent the escape of the evil computer programs into the real world. He goes against his father's wishes and takes off on a cool computer-generated motorcycle. The main action scenes in the film take place during this journey.

The 3D effects and visuals in the film are very impressive. The virtual computer world has a kind of retro neon art deco look to it. There is a nice contrast between the blue and the red color schemes. Generally, the good guys wear blue and the bad guys wear red (like the light saber colors in the Star Wars films). Probably the most interesting character in the film is Castor (played by Michael Sheen of “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”). He is kind of like David Bowie on crack. Castor is a nightclub owner who is contacted by Sam who hopes he can arrange transport to the terminal. There are also a fair number of lovely actresses in the film wearing striking skin-tight body suits. On the whole, however, the film is less than the sum of its parts. The main reason to see this is for its stunning visuals, which look great in 3D. They might not look so impressive in mere 2D. Some scenes in the film are shown in 2D, but most of it is in 3D. This film rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2010 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .