I’d just finished sixth grade when the original TRON was released, and I was probably as close to the target audience as you could get. As a sci-fi watching, video game loving kid just beginning to learn about computers and programming it’s no surprise it was one of my favorite childhood movies. Young enough to suspend disbelief as far as necessary, I was blown away with the imaginative struggle between programs, the MCP, and the intervening User. The bright neon geometric visuals were stunning (for the time) and the soundtrack bubbled with the sounds of futuristic synthesizers. My friends and I even would play out disk wars with frisbees and light cycle battles on bicycles.
Fast-forward nearly thirty years and Disney finally came around to making the sequel, TRON: Legacy. Although I waited months in anticipation of its release, I was fairly fearful the new movie would fall short. The visuals were sure to be amazing, but could they really form a decent story that sat alongside the original? Would this simply be a new unrelated chapter about The Grid? Well, most of those fears derezzed when the trailers surfaced showing Jeff Bridges as Flynn.
Without going into plotlines or spoilers, Disney pulls the sequel off pretty darn well. Not only does the plot sit nicely with the original, but it’s cleverly framed around the actual elapsed time since the first story. They really seem to embrace fanboy skeptics like me with nod after nod to the original. Little things like hacking the massive Encom door (and the exact dialog delivered again as it opens), the dusty handheld football game in Flynn’s office, Journey still playing on the arcade jukebox, and my favorite, the sole original style light cycle (with canopy and skinny rear wheel). Like Disney gravitates to, the main theme is pretty standard (father and son, coming of age, yada), but there are at least allusions to deeper ideas of science and religion and freedom of information. I will say the story narrowly escapes from getting too big for itself – the backstory of the Isos suffers for the sake of brevity – but the pacing holds things together pretty well.
The film’s visuals are amazing as expected. I saw the film in IMAX 3D and have to admit it was worth the $15 ticket. The IRL scenes are shot in 2D, so the transition to the world of The Grid is even more impressive. The 3D treatment was sharp, but subtle and avoided gimmicks – even in action sequences. And even though the CG used to transform Bridges into his much younger self wasn’t perfect, it was stilling amazing every time he hit the screen.
There were not only countless elements that echoed the original TRON, but plenty of reflections of other movies and characters. How could you not think of Luke in the Millennium Falcon when Sam is in the gun turret? 
And while Michael Sheen’s character, Castor, was certainly a riff on Bowie’s flamboyant Ziggy Stardust, I immediately thought of the Merovingian and Persephone from The Matrix Revolutions (a trilogy which probably owes much to TRON) when I saw him and Gem. 
Lastly, the soundtrack (and sound design!) was fantastic. When I first heard Daft Punk was enlisted for the score I thought it was a perfect fit, except I was afraid the entire movie would be filled with pulsating club grooves. That’d be great as a DP album, but probably not so effective as a soundtrack. While there are some killer beats, the French duo really nailed it by crafting great symphonic electonica pieces I wouldn’t have expected from them. And even though I knew it was coming, their cameo may just have been my favorite film moment of the year.
Sure, it’s not quite the cinematic fine dining of Oscar winners, but in watching the flick, I felt a lot like the CG’d Bridges – transformed back to my much younger self.
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