Tron Legacy

Yes, I feel terrible. I'm a science fiction fan and I've never seen the original Tron. I couldn't even tell you what it's about: somebody goes into a video game and rides around on light cycles. Right? There must be more. In fact, it seems that there was and our modern day version does a little recap for us - at least, I think that's what was going on. Even at this point I couldn't give you much detail on the story because frankly, it doesn't matter and the movie doesn't try to overdo itself with one. This movie is about style, flash and effects and I'm sure it accomplished this.

I say I'm sure it did because I was distracted the entire time by the movie's special effects and theater lights reflecting erratically in the 3D IMAX glasses. There were many times when I couldn't see the action on screen because of these glasses. I've never experienced anything quite like it; after seeing a few 3D movies with those standard glasses, I was expecting more from a 3D IMAX, certainly not less. You wouldn't think the glasses would be different, but they were, and they were horrible.

Another shocking bit was the pre-movie message letting us know that not all scenes are going to be in 3D, but to keep your specs on throughout. It would make sense: the first part of the movie takes place in the "real world" and the rest, inside the video game. The video game world should come to life in 3D, right? Some of it did, but not all of it. In fact, the 3D scenes were also the ones in IMAX; the rest of the film was flat and letterboxed. The same method - minus the 3D - was used in The Dark Knight. Unfortunately, being forced to keep those glasses on the entire time meant reflections and distractions throughout.

It's unfortunate that the venue can interrupt the movie so much, but that's what happened here. The movie itself was interesting: after being sucked into the game for so long, Sam Flynn seeks the portal that will allow him and his father (who has been trapped since the original movie) to escape back to the real world. We have a young Father Flynn who is ruling the world and also has an interest in going to the other side, but with presumably disastrous results for all us non-programs. Action, comedy and suspense follow as they all should. There is no doubt this movie is very entertaining and a real blast. I look forward to seeing a beautiful Blu-Ray of this at home, sans 3D and distracting reflections.

So how is the young Jeff Bridges? We're not at the point yet where digital actors will take over, but we are fast approaching. The entire first flashback scene was creepy as we were stuck in the uncanny valley, but once we got into the digital game world things fell into place. It's a definite exercise in knowing how to handle your effects and limitations.

The anticipation for this movie was massive, and hence, a bit of disappointment walking away from it. The experience in the theatre didn't help. This was supposed to be an event; with plans to see it in the big city in big 3D IMAX. With months of incredible trailers, we set ourselves up.