TRON: Legacy

If there's one thing that will stick in your mind after you walk out of "TRON: Legacy," it'll be Jeff Bridges' CGI face. Computerised to appear 28 years younger, it's a nightmarish image that makes the "Crazy Heart" actor look like an addition to the Madame Tussauds wax museum. His eyes look dead, and his skin looks like it's melting off his motion-captured skull. How this got away with a PG rating, I will never understand.

The first "TRON" was made in 1982 and was a moderate success for Disney, both financially and critically. Under the direction and writing of Steven Lisberger, it was a one-of-a-kind techno sci-fi electrified by cinematic ambition, and has gained a cult following over the many years since its release. It's taken almost three decades for the unique original to finally get a sequel, and "Legacy" shouldn't disappoint die-hard fans. Others, however, may yearn for more.

Kevin Flynn (Bridges), former CEO of computer-technology business ENCOM International, has been missing since 1989. His son, 27-year-old Sam (Garrett Hedlund, "Eragon"), is a motorbiking, base-jumping hacker and majority shareholder of his father's multinational company.

Sam is told of a page (y'know, from a pager) his father's old friend Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner, "Babylon 5") received from a disconnected number at Flynn's shut-down arcade. Sam decides to investigate the dusty insides of the abandoned building, finds a hidden room behind a coin-operated arcade game, and is zapped by a laser that transports him to The Grid. He's as clumsy as his dad.

A digital mainframe, The Grid is now a dystopia of bright neon lights and double-glazed windows. The computerised land is also now run by Clu (also the hideous young-looking Bridges), Flynn's doppelganger and program-turned-dictator. Clu has gone corrupt and is wiping out all users (AKA human beings within the system) with his vast army.

Sam is forced to play games within the gladiatorial arenas in his skin-tight wetsuit as he treks across the totalitarian world to find his father. Once they reunite, he and Flynn, along with program Quorra (Olivia Wilde, "Alpha Dog"), set out to thwart the evil ruler of The Grid while trying to get to the portal to the real world before it closes.

Let's get something straight -- the script in "TRON: Legacy" is friggin' awful. It's as lifeless as the programs contained within the plot, and as lazy as a computer nerd playing footy in gym class. The dialogue is stilted, entirely without inspiration, and worthy of quite a few eye-rolls. Writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (both "Lost" scribers) seem adamant to make "TRON: Legacy" tedious to listen to -- lines like "You've gotta be kidding me!" are repeatedly bludgeoned into the script.

Where the long-anticipated follow-up's redemption lies, however, is in the look of the film -- "TRON: Legacy" is absolutely gorgeous. It comes with the territory that a "TRON" film will be visually mesmerising (the look of the original remains untouched), and "Legacy" will outdo any high expectations in this area. The special-effects team certainly deserves many pats on the back for their outstanding work.

Light-cycles speed along glass-covered tracks, gladiators violently swing battle discs at each other, and gigantic recognisers fly overhead. It's all so stunning that your eyes can hardly take it. First-time director Joseph Kosinski makes sure to take full advantage of the digital frontier, filming the dazzling neon universe with a sense of wide-scale epicness.

Speaking of epicness, the musical score by Daft Punk is a tantalising pleasure for the ears to experience. Famous for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "One More Time," the music duo stun with their electronic tracks, complimenting the awe of the visuals on-screen. The French pair also have a cameo midway through the film as a couple of DJs, although their identities are shielded by face-covering helmets.

There's not much to say about our main character other than "he's our main character." The script fails to give him much of a personality, but Hedlund works well with what little he's given, playing an outcast unwillingly following in his father's footsteps. Still, the character has all the excitement of a beige-coloured couch.

As one would expect, Oscar-winner Bridges is top-notch in both the role of Flynn and Clu. The former is a man helplessly trapped in the realms of his own creation, while the latter is a heartless, power-hungry dictator who hunts after his creator. Bridges gleefully channels his iconic character of The Dude from "The Big Lebowski" in the form of Flynn -- he even says "You're messing with my Zen thing, man" at one point. The Dude abides.

What else is there to say about "TRON: Legacy"? It's an easy-on-the-eyes sci-fi spectacle that has style trumping substance. The script stinks to high heaven and the narrative is as thin as an anorexic stick insect, but the majority of the running time is rather enjoyable. A definite for fans, a maybe for general moviegoers. Oh, and make sure to cover your eyes whenever young-faced Jeff Bridges is on-screen. I know I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks.

6/10