And the first film review of 2011 finds our poor eyes staring at another remake, Hollywood having ran out of ideas some many years ago, have been raping and pillaging like good little Vikings anything that may make some quick cash.

It’s easy to just assume the position of a cynical snot about the rate we see pointless remakes and crappy sequels appearing on the big screen such as the almost endless Hairy Potter series, XXX-Men: Wolverhampton (of which we are getting another one, I can see peace in the middle east right now), Batman: The African-Amercian knight and Get Smart (by falling asleep).

But not all remakes have been bad, Star Wrecked for example, while a wee bit light on a few areas, was in fact one of the best examples of bringing new life into a once-thought dead franchise.

And although some may disagree somehow, the A-Hole, sorry Team, also managed to gain some creditability as being something enjoyable to watch, though for the record, having Jessica Biel in there did help a lot. Ultimately what is good and bad will remain in the eye of the beholder.

So, what can Disney do for a sequel to the almost 29 year old Tron film?

Well first of all, what the hell was TRON really about? Aside from a big cycle battle thing, and everyone looking like they were under neon lights at the world’s worst gay disco, it was hard to ascertain what was going on and why for the most part. Even now it’s hard to provide a summary;

Jeff Bridges wanted to do bad things to a bad guy running a big computer company.

Jeff while trying to find dirt on said bad guy on a computer, was shot by a laser and then ended up in the digital world on a bike at some point where the system was bad, he did something involving throwing a frisbee round the place which sorted it out, and then got back out.

Bad guy was knackered, Jeff Bridges smoked some dope. Or he does in the Big Lebowski some years later.

And now, with ourselves up to speed, let’s at last begin watching TRON:Legacy, in 3D and at the local IMAX for full effect.

We are quickly re-introduced to Kevin Flump back in the 80s, which is meant to be the youthful version of Jeff Bridges from the first film. When you see his face, well you can see it doesn’t quite work. Oh look, he has a son, all happy and shit. But oh no, Kevin went missing and now we get to see the son years later, played by some bloke called Garrett Hedlund and would you believe it, he’s being a typical know-it-all f**k nugget who likes jumping off buildings.

But soon as in the original film, Sam, the wonderful son gets told there was a page from the old arcade featured in the first film, and after pushing buttons on a computer hidden away, is hit by the same laser and transported to the digital world. Oh no.

Soon the boy wonder is finding himself within various dangerous games, somehow though handling all that is thrown at him with amazing ease considering he has no idea what is going on, then we get to see more CGI Jeff Bridges before the sex object otherwise known as Olivia Wilde comes along and takes Sam away from all that to what can only be described as a really nice bachelor pad.

We then see the big Lebowski as his real self, and then it goes goes along from one set piece to another in order to escape from the world before a portal closes. As with most reviews, we refrain from spoiling the epic end, but when it eventually arrives, it all seems like a Tesco value meal. Deeply unsatisfying and it leaves a strange aftertaste. Mind you, the same has been said for doing naughty….but I digress.

Tron: Legacy certainly pulls out all the stops when it comes to the onscreen visuals. The old look of the first film has been updated and polished to a brilliant new car finish with 5 year warranty, far far better than what we saw before, but let’s be fair, they did throw a lot of money at the project. Even so, it really is impressive, make no mistake.

In fact there can be no true comparison between the two Tron films; Tron Legacy is pretty much what the first film would only dream of pulling off and the only real downer as far as all the effects go is the CGI that get plastered all over Jeff Bridges to make him look younger. For all the stuff that can be pulled off these days, it appears human rendering remain a distant dream. The way the “young” Lebowski’s mouth moves, it reminds me of the Thunderbirds puppets from the 1960s and I would have preferred one of them on screen to be honest.

If you didn’t see the first film, you may struggle in places: you either understand what’s going on, or you’re left behind, like a used condom with a Disney logo on it. It’s really obvious in a few places, such as when introducing the character of Tron. Err, who the hell was he again? Why do I care that’s he being naughty?

As for the overall acting, well, err…. Jeff Bridges is alright as Kevin Flynn and the other CGI version called Clu (who doesn’t seem to have a clue), although he does dive into being the dude a wee bit too much on occasion. Garrett Hedlund comes across as annoying on occasion, just wanting his daddy to be proud and Olivia Wilde does what she can in that nice tight suit of hers. She actually does try to be fair.

And then Michael Sheen basically does his best David Bowie impression, while playing the typical naughty British bad guy, was asking if there was life on Mars. Yes, such a bad joke, yet so necessary given how stupid His character is too.

Ok, so we’re not getting an epic here, but for all the faults, it came out at the right time of being a family blockbuster and it has enough for you to sit through to not start wondering when you can reach for that copy of Playboy and head for the bathroom. In the grand scheme of things, Disney did alright!