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Tron: Legacy

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, and Olivia Wilde
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Written by: Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

"The Grid. A digital frontier.  I tried to picture clusters of information as they move through the computer.  What did they look like?  Ships? Motorcycles?  Were the circuits like freeways?  I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see.  And then, one day, I got in." -Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges).  This visual stunner and action drama, and sequel to the 1982 Tron is sure to thrill almost anybody who sees it.
    When Kevin Flynn, CEO of ENCOM, gets trapped inside his computer creation and nobody knows what happened to him, it takes 20 years for anyone to see him again, when his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) goes inside the grid to find him.  Inside, he finds a digital world created by Flynn's program designed to create this world, Clu (also Jeff Bridges).  Sam is treated like a program once inside the grid, but there's one problem, he's a user and the son of the creator.  After being rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde) from Clu's games with his program, she takes him to where Flynn has been living while stuck in the computer where he finds out just what Clu has done to this digital world.  Now Sam must get back to the portal to return to the real world, but with Flynn's help, will he destroy Clu and get his father safely back to the real world after nearly 20 years?
    This film has many positives about it.  Firstly, I think this is going to be the new standard for CGI animation.  The special effects are unbelievable.  Although I didn't see it in 3D, it still makes you want to be a part of this virtual world and during the fight scenes, I felt like I was a member of the audience in the seemingly massive stadium.  Most of the movie takes place inside of the computer, making the idea of what's going on inside our computers a whole lot more interesting with these effects.  The design of the light cycle game board is different from the original Tron and from any light cycle game on the market today.  Many things such as the solar sailors, paranoids, and the giant airship look a lot like they did in the original film, however, these look more realistic and a whole lot cooler as CGI technology has advanced so much in the last 28 years since its release.  It is the best CGI animation I have seen to date.
    Another positive is the music.  The score by Daft Punk creates a mood for some of the scenes, especially in Zeus's club that make the movie seem more epic and a whole lot more electronic.  It makes sense to have an electronic music group create music for this movie.  It adds more to the scene it's in than just an orchestrated score.  Daft Punk even makes a cameo appearance as the DJs at Zeus's club.  The movie felt more fun to watch with an electronic score like this.
    Kosinsky does a fine job of integrating the story from the original film into this one, but there are still some things left out that would help make more sense of this movie for one who has not yet seen the original.  I don't want to talk about that as it would spoil the whole original film, which is just as awesome as this one.  For a first time director of a feature film, Kosinsky makes a great debut.  After hearing about this film for the first time in October 2009 and waiting for nearly a year and a half, Tron Legacy does not disappoint.
4 out of 4 stars.

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