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Pulsating, pounding and jarring pretty much describes Disney's holiday offering, "TRON: Legacy." From the introduction of Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) as he unleashes his annual prank/attack on ENCOM (the company his father help create) to the very last of its too long 127 minutes, TRON is exhausting.
The fatigue comes not only from intense action but from racking your brain trying to reconcile what you're seeing with the faded memories of the original 1982 film.
The fatigue comes not only from intense action but from racking your brain trying to reconcile what you're seeing with the faded memories of the original 1982 film -- and that's not easy. It seems a pager message has been received from Sam's father, Kevin Flynn, the legendary digital genius who disappeared when Sam was just a boy. Where did he go? Nobody knows, but when Sam returns to his father's old video arcade, he discovers a hidden site where apparently his father worked to push the envelope of known cyber boundaries.
Sam can't resist trying to figure out what dad was up to and finds himself transported into a cyber world that his father not only created, but a world that has entrapped him for the past several decades.
For those who remember the first film, the gladiator-like games we were introduced to have been evolving with more intensity and danger. Now the question is, can father and son cross the hostile cyber landscape and escape to the real world?
Jeff Bridges reprises his role and with special effects wizardry plays older Kevin, younger Kevin and Clu, with semi-creepy results. Hedlund delivers a Tony Stark wanna-be character with only limited success.
A highlight of the movie is Olivia Wilde, whose character helps the reunited father and son battle toward the real world. For fans of the first film, you'll appreciate that Bruce Boxleitner is back as Alan Bradley, Kevin's friend and mentor for Sam.
The effects are impressive, but the plot -- well, I think I should have done more homework and at least revisited the old TRON, but even that might not have done the trick.
I'm giving just two and a half stars for "TRON: Legacy" and it's rated PG.
