My memories of the original Tron are from 1995. First time I visited my extended family in Ghana, the film was on tv and I half watched it while enjoying their company. Tron, Aliens, and Showdown in Little Tokyo are three movies I will always remember through the prism of chilling with family in Africa. Unfortunately, all three only reside in my memory in bits and pieces.

So what do I remember of Tron? Crappy graphics (I'm sure they were great in the day, but I saw it in 95, remember?), glowing everything, and motorbikes. I don't remember it being bad, just not particularly memorable. Apparently Little Tokyo and its graphic beheadings bumped Tron mostly off the memory shelf. Kids, huh?

So I went into Tron Legacy not expecting much. The story is, Jeff Bridges (bad guy from Iron Man, The Dude from Big Lebowski, I'm sure you have access to IMDB if you're reading this) made some computer world. The computer world is inhabited by glowing programs who apparently have gone rogue, no Palin. So he gets trapped in the computer for 20 years and his son, renegade badass ultra rich hacker has to rescue him while making eyes at some chick (Olivia Wilde) and learning the true meaning of something.

Honestly, the story isn't the main draw. This is a visual spectacle a la Avatar. Well, I shouldn't make that comparison, but Tron Legacy brought it upon itself by requiring the use of 3D goggles. Yes folks, this is the latest unecessarily 3D corporate cash grab. The film even starts with a warning that says in effect:

Yeah, a lot of the movie isn't actually in 3D, but keep your glasses on anyway.

I'm glad I did, or I would have missed out on... depth of field effects and the obligatory "oh crap they're throwing crap at me on wait this is a 3D movie why am I afraid ha ha good one Tron guy." So yeah, I'm not a fan. Also, my ticket was more expensive.

Side note: if you're buying a 3D TV, you're part of the problem. Avatar is still the only movie I've seen that benefitted from 3D. We need to move on. Until Avatar 2: Nuke It From Orbit.

Anyway, Tron. The movie is quite striking visually, lots of glowing lines everywhere from the landscape to the outfits of the programs and users. It's a cool effect that fits right in with the excellent techno-electronic-whatever soundtrack from Daft Punk. There are a tasteful number of slow motion action sequences that really show off the visual splendor and just look cool. And I can't mention technical feats without including young Jeff Bridges. The de aging tech used to portray the actor as he was in the 80s is well done and could easily fool the untrained eye. Overall, the movie is great to look at and almost worth the price of admission.

The plot is rather simple and not particularly compelling. The acting is nothing special, except for Wilde's performance, which is specially terrible. Maybe her character (combination MacGuffin and idiot) just got on my nerves, but I couldn't stand her performance. Like Trinity from The Matrix, minus the style and fighting ability. The main character isn't particularly memorable and I have forgotten his name. Shane, Scott, Sam I think it's Sam. Doesn't really matter. Think Bruce Wayne except even more smirky. But he does what he needs to, fight guys and drive motorcycles, with great enthusiasm.

So should you watch Tron Legacy? If you liked the original, I dunno, maybe? If you like shiny objects and slow motion, definitely. If you're into complex stories and futuristic scenarios, probably not. If you like 3D movies, reevaluate your life.