Tron Legacy - Too hip?

Until the awesome previews, I was skeptical about a "Tron" sequel. What can I say except I dug the 8-bittiness of it. Also, it took me nearly 20 years to understand all of the nuances of the first film. After accomplishing that, what would "Tron Legacy" offer a recovering code junkie?

In 1989, Encom CEO Kevin Flynn goes missing. Some speculate his demise while his partner Alan Bradley believes he is exploring the digital fronts. Either way, his son Sam has grown up without him, and is now a despondent majority shareholder who tries to compromise the corporation that is run by the likes of Edward Dillinger.

After his last stunt, Alan informs Sam that his father paged him from the old arcade that had been closed for 20 years. Sam goes to investigate, and winds up finding the teleportation laser. As a result, he is transferred to the Grid, the digital universe that is ran by the megalomaniacal program Clu.

Clu was developed by Flynn to create the perfect digital world. Tired of being restricted to the Grid, he wants to take on the real world. To do that, he need Flynn's data disk to allow him to use the portal to the real world. By bringing Sam to the grid, he hopes to draw Flynn out of hiding. The only problem with the plan, Flynn may be ready him.

"Tron Legacy" is "Matrix" smart. It does not take a nerd to understand it, so the geek elite may feel betrayed. Otherwise, it is a pretty solid flick, easy for anyone to get into and ideal for 3-D screens or raves. Again nerds may feel left out. Especially since the film lacks a George Lucas love story.

If there is any trouble in terms of action sequences, it is that there is too much action. Keeping with the environment of the first "Tron", there is little in terms of backgrounds. The world is vast, but feels pretty small, so some of the scenes feel crowded, especially with the Virtual Boy like streak effects of the vehicles. It still looks great in 3-D, but does it translate to 2-D?

Aside from that flaw, the only weakness is that Sam, Garrett Hedlund, is not very interesting. Dare I say, Sam is Anakin like. Not to say that Tron was an enthralling character, but Bruce Boxleitner pulled of being a bad ass, and the Alan Bradley alter ego gave him a dynamic nature. Sam does not have the foil, so he needs to do something to be unique. Being the stereotypical rebel does not cut it.

The rest of the characters are unique and fun (especially Michael Sheen getting to try and be the flamboyant Brit). Fantasy films call for actors to not be "normal," and they all succeed.

If "Tron Legacy" was more careful with their Kung Fu and throw the first film's fan more than a Journey sound byte, it would have been perfect. It should have been made for the fans, but you really cannot hold anything against a good Jeff Bridges movie. "Crazy Heart" was lame, but Bridges was fantastic, so cannot argue against his power.