Picking up and redeveloping the mythology from TRON, when Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) has gone missing after quickly taking over ENCOM and making it into an unbeatable powerhouse in the late 1980’s. Leap forward over two decades later, and ENCOM is still at the top of its game even without its leader. But its main shareholder, Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund), wants nearly nothing to do with it. On the encouragement and curiosity of an old friend, Sam returns to his father’s old office to investigate a mysterious page. He gets zapped into a redesigned ENCOM mainframe, and quickly realizes the dangerous predicament he has thrown himself into.

Much like the original film, the storyline of TRON: Legacy is a cohesive mess. Action sequences seem to be the only real element connecting every story sequence together, sometimes absentmindedly. Once the film’s ideas and real crux of a plotline start moving, the film seems inept at knowing what to do -- offer explanations for what is going on, or just move along on the fly, and hope the audience will have some form of an understanding of what is going on. It slows down to a screeching halt in a few scenes and practically vomits exposition at the audience at increasing speeds, hoping some thoughts will stick and any logistical elements will be completely ignored. Worse yet, certain events and scenes happen or are alluded to with the obvious intention of being important later on, only to serve next to no point at all. An allegiance switch late in the film is of particular standout, because it means absolutely nothing seconds after it happens. The film runs 40 minutes longer than the original film, but still appears to have had a significant portion of story elements hacked to bits.

The acting is hit and miss as well. Hedlund has the right amount of ignorance and swagger to make Sam a great character, but his dialogue, delivery and chemistry with anyone else is near pitiful. Some of his lines, added directly to appeal to children, stand out as particularly awful. He just does not have what it takes for the audience to take him seriously as a lead, and to make his journey compelling. I wanted to like him and I wanted to care about what happened, but his performance just made it almost impossible. Olivia Wilde fares significantly better as Quorra, who spends the majority of the film either saving Sam or asking him about the mysteries of the outside world. It is a thankless role that could have been performed by any gorgeous young actress, but Wilde makes the character her own, giving her a life and personality that is nearly devoid from the actual story itself. Bridges does not get a whole lot to do, acting both as the older Flynn and the voice of the mostly computer generated Clu 2.0, but still proves to be as immensely entertaining as always. I found his work to be second only to Michael Sheen, who steals the entire movie in his small role as an over-the-top David Bowie-like club owner.

But where the film stands out, and the real reason anyone should even consider venturing into a movie like TRON: Legacy, is in its visuals. First time director Joseph Kosinski has taken Steven Lisberger’s unique vision and, alongside his incredibly talented crew, has repurposed and reimagined just about everything to look even more incredible than it did in 1982 (and borrows from a few other science fiction films in the process). They have left little nods, designs and references to elements from the original film, but everything has been revamped and painstakingly recreated in even more dazzling detail. If you found the original film hard to watch or just laughed at it’s almost archaic digital design, than you will simply marvel at what is shown on screen here. The light cycles are majestic and fluid. The costumes and movements within “the grid” are astonishing. The action and battle scenes are astounding. The digitally replicated look and feel of Clu 2.0 as Bridges in his early 30’s is simply mindblowing. There are instances where the effects are imperfect, but seeing the visuals updated to look this ridiculously unbelievable is worth the price of admission alone. The 3D effects are not nearly as much of a revelation as they were in Avatar, but they help add a nice layer of creative depth to the film.

The score, created by Daft Punk (who have a small, not so subtle cameo), is also of particular note because of how much it adds to the film. This has been an incredible year for scores in film, and TRON: Legacy’s is likely one of the best. The techno, electro pop sound gives many of the film’s scenes a more epic and pulse-pounding sense of life that no other score could have delivered. It is inspiring, and helps practically add a sense of authenticity to the film. It simply would not have worked nearly as well had it been done by a traditional orchestra. And it just keeps getting better and more legendary as the film goes on.

As a whole, I am on the fence over how I feel about TRON: Legacy. It is a disappointment from a storyline standpoint (although it does work a little better than TRON did), but from a visual standpoint, it is absolutely incredible. The unique look and feel of the film is just too overpowering not to be. It does things that the original film only wished it could have pulled off in 1982, and will leave audiences stunned at how far we have come since. It is not quite the experience we got from Avatar this time last year, but its ambitious results surprised me immensely. I just hope those early extended franchise rumors remain rumors.

  -- David Baldwin