Warning, some spoilers ahead!
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GREAT movie. Although the original played the whole "Trapped in a Computer" thing with typical late-70s/early-80s cheese (but in a good way. I mean come on, you HAVE to agree that was all part of the fun of it!) Legacy was MUCH darker. I enjoyed the prophetic dialog of the original (IE, Dumont's concern that the more computers think, the less the people themselves will) but Legacy turned to something far more grim, touching on everything from the war of the big software conglomerates vs. open source, to genocidal despotism. And it worked. Unlike the Pirates sequels, which got progressively more bloated and overblown as they went along, Legacy used the story itself to create something more epic and generate higher stakes. The Master Control Program may have been bent on world domination by controlling the world's computers (a development which is hinted at early in the film, but largely forgotten) but Clu's plans are far more insidious. Master Control thought he could do a better job running the place,. However it's made clear that Clu doesn't just want to run the world, his plans are for outright conquest. The implications of a being desiring absolute perfection being unleashed on the imperfect, real, world are never far from the forefront of the plot. This is where Legacy's story greatly improved on the original; Tron largely set aside the darker and wider-ranging plans of Master Control, and focused its attention on the efforts of Tron and Flynn to bring freedom to the Grid. Legacy never lets you forget that Clu's plans put humanity ITSELF at risk.
That's not to say it was absolutely perfect, as some elements of the plot became obvious. After a certain point it was pretty clear who Rinzler REALLY was, and Quorra's secret could be seen coming as well. However it was still just FUN watching these events unfold.
Bridges in particular played a great dual role as Kevin Flynn and Clu. It was interesting seeing the grown-up Flynn. He was no longer the guy Lora Banes (played by Cindy Morgan in the original Tron) described as all his friends being fourteen years old. Bridges gave him just the right touch of Dudish daffiness, but tempered it with much more maturity. You could BELIEVE the awe that Programs--even Clu's own minions--held for him as their creator. As for Clu himself, there was a menace to him that the Master Control utterly lacked. Bridges practically radiated the instability and rage of a disillusioned zealot married to a dangerous charisma, making Flynn's flippant "Greetings, Programs!" something altogether more sinister. He was a being who thought he was betrayed, who believed wholeheartedly in something only to think he was seeing it taken away from him, and was determined to take what he thought was his rightful place in the world. There was certainly a touch of the Third Reich in Clu's ambitions, right down to the genocide of the ISOs, for which he laid the blame for destroying the perfection of what he was attempting to create.
Garrett Hedlund did a respectable job as Flynn's son Sam, paralleling his father's initial arrival on the Grid with the same sense of disbelief. Hedlund also did well early in the film projecting the same immaturity Bridges brought to Flynn in the original, and he matured well over the course of the film from the directionless rebel into a warrior and a man ready to take responsibility in his life. Olivia Wilde, meanwhile, seems to be one of those polarizing actors that people either love her hate (although I suspect most of the "Hate" crowd is due to her taking over the role of the resident hot doctor from Jennifer Morrison on House). Personally, I greatly enjoyed the childlike qualities of Quorra, and the wonder she expressed when asking Sam about things so simple we take for granted in the real world, such as the sun, and her mistaken belief that author Jules Verne was still alive when Sam mentions "knowing" Verne (in reference to his writings). Wilde also proved apt at handling the physical demands of her role, and I had no problems believing her as a badass warrior chick.
Special props to Michael Sheen as the eccentric Program, Castor, who for a relatively small role may have had one of the film's most charismatic and memorable performances.
The visuals were INCREDIBLE, updated to the 21st century while still remaining true to their origins. The first look at the updated Recognizers blew me away, and the new lightcycles were very nicely done. The little hints to the original film with the tanks visible at times in the background, and the appearance of the classic lightcycle further helped tie the look in to the first film. I GREATLY enjoyed the lightjet fight (and my first thought when Quorra said they needed to get their heavier ship behind the lighter jets was that rope. I'm sure the SAPP guys are grinning ear to ear on that) and this was a great addition to the universe of Tron. Also, the effects crew did an EXCEPTIONAL job on the age-regression work on Jeff Bridges for Clu, as well as the brief look at Boxleitner as Tron in the flashback sequences. This could open up new ground in film-making.
Critics haven't been particularly kind to it. However from time to time there are movies that the critics just don't seem to get, and I firmly believe that this is one of them. The movie ultimately does what it sets out to do.
