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Ever looked at a computer motherboard?  It’s neat how all the conductors, circuits, wiring, and batteries all come together to such a beautiful array.  Oh and the forest green tint of the board itself, not even fire engine red is that attractive.  All in all, computer hardware looks pretty nifty.  Tron: Legacy is very similar to computer hardware, it looks cool, but, the average blog reader doesn’t know how all the components come together or what’s really going on.

As I begin to squire on about this movie, I mine as well explain the title: it’s “Tron” in binary code.  The original film came out quite some time ago, like 29 years.  Jeff Bridges starred as some computer programmer dude who invented some system and then this company called Encom stole it from him and he needed to become digital to prove that he was the one who invented it in the first place.  At least, that is what Wikipedia tells me.  Tron: Legacy takes place years after the original.  The son of Jeff Bridges ends up in the computer and needs to battle his father who he also has teamed up with.  That’s right, this movie has two Jeff Bridges; one the original that has been stuck in the computer deemed a ‘user’ (protagonist), the other an evil set of software that is trying to take over the mainframe (antagonist).  The movie follows Jeff Bridges and his son, we’ll call him exhibit A, battling Jeff Bridges and his goons (software).  A note of caution, the plot makes no sense; all I could tell is that Jeff Bridges battles himself.  Really, that is it; maybe I should have watched the 

first Tron before seeing the sequel.

As I eluded with the computer simile, the only goal a person seeing Tron: Legacy is to enjoy all the special effects and battle scenes, not the plot.  Kind of opposite of The Notebook.  However, even on the graphic front, the film doesn’t do well.  It is shot using ‘Real 3d” which at this point I have decided as a scam.  This technology makes us, the money machine, wear stupid and uncomfortable polarized glasses for hours, when the added ‘3d feel’ does nothing for the movie. Most of the scenes didn’t even seem like they were in 3d, just really clear 2d.  All recent film shot in 3d I deem unworthy and a nuisance to imax 3d.  Want to see what excellent 3d technology is?  Find Beowulf playing in Imax 3d somewhere, that is incredible.  Back to Tron, despite a pitiful attempt at 3d, the film provides a few visually pleasing scenes and it is interesting to see how a few guys depicted what the inside of computer software looks like.  Go out and see Tron if you want an action movie with some cool visual effects, but stop there.  Don’t expect a good story: especially if you haven’t seen the first Tron.