The sequel to an old classic that looked like it was going to be a visual masterpiece was indeed that, but nothing more. Much in the same way as Avatar, the hype of this film was built on nothing apart from the fact it was being shown in 3D and looked pretty. And despite my long-standing hatred for 3D films, I honestly don’t think I’d have been able to put into words how bad the film actually was otherwise.

The plot was plagued with hideously predictable twists and turns and while the action scenes were jam-packed and full of visuals akin to being on a moderate-to-high hallucinogenic, none of it was nail-biting stuff. You knew immediately what the outcome of the scene was going to be before it flashed in front of your eyes, leaving you feeling like a bored stoner.

Some of the acting, it has to be said, was immense, however, in modern-day TV, theatre and films, you need the characters themselves to be three-dimensional. (That’s not the dreadful sunglasses-indoors three-dimensional for the record.) Each character was assigned a role to play, be it “broody-yet-playful lead”, “anxious/thoughtful elderly man”, “stereotypical villain” or “camp and evil pimp that runs nightclub” and there was never any other side to these characters.

But the one thing that really made me leave disheartened wasn’t the fact that an episode of Dora The Explorer had more depth or even that it was as emotionally-provoking as reading “Heat” magazine. Oh no. The title “Tron: Legacy” promises something that it doesn’t deliver at all. The character “Tron” appears only twice, and one of those was in a flashback. With a title centred around a character that I can only assume must have been kicked out of school for bad attendance, you expect so much more. The film doesn’t even tie up the loose end related to him.

But who knows, maybe it was tactical? Maybe there’ll be an option under the extras menu on the DVD that you can edit yourself into the film as Tron and re-name it. I’d be a hell of a lot more inclined to watch “Ben’s Cat: Legacy” than this tripe.

by Ben Morris