A note on the CG. The human-simulation technology was not there, which is jarring because literally every other frame of CG holds up today, I think. But the choice to de-age Jeff Bridges for CLU/young Flynn remains the glaringest element of the mixed-bag movie, and I feel like it could have been saved if they'd chosen to lean into their limitations by making CLU's digialness a feature, not a bug. Either make all programs a little smooth-faced (to be fair I can think of several reasons not to do this to every character except the Flynn men), or make CLU's exceptional age/background/uniqueness as a program.
I also feel weird about them inventing and eradicating an entire species of self-aware spontaneous "programs," just so that Quorra could have a convoluted backstory that doesn't seem too important to the main conflict. (Easiest way to tell that's true: CLU doesn't give a shit about Quorra, doesn't see the value in Quorra or her life-disk-thingy, etc. Quorra is just a sidekick with too much character design.)
Interesting expansion of the world, and interesting visual reimagining of the world. I miss the 80s styles when I watch it, but I also don't at all hate what they've done to the universe to update it. The same phenomenon, I suppose, as seeing Star Trek from the 60s, 80s, 00s, and 20s each look radically different without harming the plausibility of the universe. It's exciting to see a sort of aesthetic flexibility in franchises, I think.
