Honestly, I thought it was sort of lame. The special effects are gorgeous, of course, but with modern technology I was thinking that the Grid would be able to be rendered as an environment that's totally alien and abstract from anything that's recognizable in everyday life here in the real world. Instead, the Grid present in Tron Legacy seems quite familiar. The programs inhabiting the world apparently need to work, mill about a digital city in their free time, and love to party. There's distinguishable "mountainous" and "oceanic" geographic areas in the digital world, and the film's climatic battle seems to be mostly a World War II-style dogfight with neon-colored planes. There isn't really that much creativity in place at all. The most innovative concepts and vehicles all originated in the original movie, ironically.
I suppose I'd be willing to forgive that if the story were better constructed, but it's kinda confusing. Maybe it's just me, but I never really understood why Clu rebelled from his Kevin Flynn, developed a genocidal hatred for the Isos, and then became the wrathful ruler of the Grid. The closest I've come to rationalizing it is that Clu is supposed to be an overly-efficient program bent on constructing a perfect world, and happens to view the Isos as an anomaly and opposes anyone with any sympathy for them. But if anything, Jeff Bridges' dramatic and sullen performance of the character suggests otherwise. Maybe it's supposed to suggest that Clu as a program has become "corrupted" over time? Maybe, but nevertheless Clu it comes off as too human and that obscures his motives a bit.
And then there's Tron. His five-second transformation from villainous lackey to sacrificial hero seems incredibly forced, and in any case wasn't executed very well at all. I think his actions are supposed to be poignant, but don't come off as such.
The acting is sort of dull all around, and it doesn't help that the script is also unmemorable. Not bad, mind you. I don't think there was a moment where I cringed at anybody's lines, but nothing seemed be especially heartfelt or rousing either. Jeff Bridges was probably the most enjoyable actor in the movie, if only because Clu was its most emotionally volatile character. His other character, Kevin Flynn, is somewhat enjoyable as an aging and somewhat bitter programmer with a noticeable amount of hippie-inspired lingo.
The music is alright for the film, even if you usually dislike generic techno music, and generally fits the environment and the mood.
The Grid theme, especially at 0:45, and the entirety of
The Son of Flynn are short but sweet, especially in the film itself.
If we were using the old thread's rating system, I'd probably give Tron Legacy a C or C+. It's stunning, to be sure, but kinda shallow as well.
