Fridae

As it turned out in 1982, Disney never expected Tron to add up to much of a success – and they were proven right at the box office. The Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate it for a special effects prize because its members felt the film producers cheated by using CGI! It’s a little bit funny how Tron has grown into a cult film since then and how it is recognised today by film historians as the first film to employ computer animation and live action in a seamless blend. After almost 30 years, the House of Mouse is finally giving Steven Lisberger his due recognition with the highest praise it can bestow – a sequel to his original film.

Tron: Legacy brings back the old cast of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), CLU (Bridges again), Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), and Tron (Boxleitner again), and retroactively gives the virtual world of Tron a name – the Grid. It appears that not too long after his victory in the Grid and ENCOM, Flynn disappears mysteriously for almost three decades, leaving behind his bewildered best friend to handle the pieces, while his young son Sam grows up into a 20-something with daddy issues.

But Flynn is alive, a virtual prisoner in the Grid. When Sam is laser-zapped into his world, everything will be put right again, hopefully. But first, our new hero will have to play the Grid’s updated versions of Light Cycles, Disc Wars, evade Recognisers and tanks, and of course ride a Solar Sailer while evading whatever new villain has taken over control of the Grid.

In other words, the plot of Tron: Legacy is largely unchanged from the original film. As sequels go, this is a very conservative effort. That’s all right because at the end of the day, the film is true to the spirit of the original; it is a pure visual experience, full of luminescent symmetries moving in tandem to an excellent electronica soundtrack (provided here by Daft Punk).

Acting-wise, the emotional drama is provided solely by Oscar winner Jeff Bridges in his dual roles of an aged, battle-scarred and Zen-like (or Dude-like) Flynn, and the immortal CLU. Michael Sheen in a cameo provides a bizarre, over the top moment by channelling Martin Short performing an impression of David Bowie...

Tron: Legacy might well be the final blockbuster of this year. It’s also the biggest blockbuster of this year.