The Tron/Tron Legacy combo is quite a mixed bag but overall, its worth the price.



I saw Tron in the theater and recall the WOW factor it invoked as a film created by computer graphics. That innovation can't be understated in appreciating this film. My memory didn't include the incredibly horrid acting by every member of the cast. Watching Tron in 2011, I was reminded that almost all of the movies I saw back then were wrapped around named actors who delivered some incredibly wooden performances. Still, the concepts were cool and the unique idea of diving into the world of the computer makes all the rest worthy.



Tron Legacy comes to us in a different timeframe and both benefits and suffers from its predecessor. Watching it, I recognized how sophisticated we'd become in the special effects of our time. Visuals that would have blown me away a couple of decades ago passed by without as much as a "meh" and the detailed world of the computer was so rich and so enhanced that in some ways I found myself wanting the more simplified grid with boxed clouds and straight walled alleyways. The Legacy grid was so detailed that it seemed like another planetary environment from Star Wars or some similar film and that actually removed me from the "in the computer" feel. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to this film had I seen the 2D version.



The 3D version is amazing. The lightcycles were updated in a manner that screamed there was 30 years of computer graphics technology behind them. The dimensional aspects worked outstandingly well, with a true "viewmaster-look" with depth beyond what I'd hoped to get out of a 3D movie. The movements and flow of the animation was top-rate and the detailing of programs being shattered into bits really shone over the light flares used in the original. If I had any complaints on the effects, its that they were too fully developed and seemed too much like the real world. I'd have opted for something a bit more sterile to ensure that you never forgot this was supposed to be inside the computer.



The biggest anchors of the film were its storyline and unfortunately, Jeff Bridges. To be fair, I don't know how much was Bridges and how much was his character but the older Flynn didn't work (at least for me). The guy in Legacy isn't the same guy in Tron. In the original, Flynn was happy and go lucky. In Legacy, he's tired, worn-down, and lifeless. A cardboard cutout would have served the same purpose. The story supports this portrayal but the ending demanded a more inspired character. Instead, the older Flynn seems like little more than a battery depleted of its charge. Likewise, the younger Flynn is so subdued that its hard to embrace him. The same dullness reigns through-out most of the cast until you get 2/3rds of the way into the film, and even then, the spark is only temporary. I know this was done to give Legacy a more serious feel but it seemed to weaken the movie rather than strengthen it.



The fights off the grid game area were lacking as well. The end contest seemed somewhat obligatory rather than thrilling and the final conflict had essentially no impact whatsoever. Part of this comes from the magical aspect of being able to create anything on the fly. It removed any sense of danger. Part of it comes from the characters being so lifeless. Unlike the earlier sequences on the game board, these fights unfolded as nothing more than pretty visuals going through the motions.



However, the game grid contests make the film worth purchasing and the larger grid world is visually appealing. The 3D work is top-notch and I'm looking forward to seeing that these same animators will do with other storylines.



Overall, this is a definite buy but understand you are getting it with some inherent shortfalls.