Note: IMDb will not allow me to enter "- e s q u e" (no spaces). Gets changed to "-esquire" every time I correct it and hit preview. No related spelling call-out. Bizarre

TL obviously works for some. But to a stunning degree, not for me.

1) That it managed to look so much poorer than 1982's TRON I never would have imagined. TL versus TRON is comparable to Google logo art versus Met exhibits. No sentimentalism in that statement; I love modern FX.

TL's light show rates Sharper Image. With a handful of exceptions, it appears they were satisfied gluing scrap neon onto Plexiglass and some wet suits. The effects are first-rate twice, in more places pretty, often tedious, on average boring.

Despite the less advanced tech, 1982's TRON is beautiful. TRON's digitally reworked characters and microcircuit-based world comprise absorbing artistry. Both movies lean on simulated neon, but TRON manages to lasso your brain with it.

I can't help wondering whether many reviewers who claim to have been amazed by the effects do so only because they're "supposed to." Wasn't it a a forgone conclusion in the pre-release buzz that whatever TL did or didn't do well, the effects would, of course, be amazing? After all, this is the follow-up to TRON. Might such expectations influence perception, or at least what some reviewers feel it's "safe" to say?

Don't know, but you've seen better a hundred times before, I promise.

2) It's odd that even with no writers' strike, TL was written by scabs. Or so it seems.

Storyline clichés are fine if well-executed and not excessive in number. Neither, in TL. The clichés drown you. My eyes rolled so hard I almost lost a contact lens. Bring ginger tea or a prescription antiemetic.

Borrowing is rampant. You can hardly miss their poorly delivered Matrix-, Star Wars-, Blade Runner-, and pick-your-Jet-Li-film-esquire scenes, characters, and action choreography. It smacks of desperation: WE REALLY ARE AS COOL AS THEY ARE! FIST-BUMP? PLEASE?

I've heard less plausible movie dialog, but not by a huge margin. (And I excuse the tech-talk.)

3) Ironically, the two younger leads were Animatronic.

Summation for this reviewer: Love TRON. No review-skewing nostalgia. Legacy rots.

/|/|ax