At the base of Disney’s Space Mountain, a hurried crowd gathers, lured together by the promise of new life being breathed into an old classic. The air is electric with the mob’s collective excitement… the sense of hope and anticipation almost palpable. Thunder echoes off of the clouds of a gathering storm, and the crowd’s hushed murmur dies down into utter silence. Without words or conventional cues, a sudden understanding passes throughout the crowd, like the wave throughout stadium seating: now is the moment for which they have been waiting so long!
Like a heathen priest of old, Jeff Bridges appears on the mountain’s summit. Mickey Mouse stands just behind him with arms crossed, silently offering the aging actor Disney’s moral support. Jeff smiles down at the masses, ready. He takes in a long breath and shouts down his proclamation, his voice accompanied by another round of rolling thunder and the flashes of fork-lightning.
“The special effects god demands a sacrifice,” he shouts, his voice on the edge of hysteria. “Thus we offer Tron to the altar!”
Hopefully you’re appreciating the theatrics.
For the record, I’m as much a Tron fanboy as the next guy or girl. I’ve been eagerly chasing rumors of a sequel, in fact, since they first started circulating in the mid-90’s. In 2005, when Disney first reported that a sequel was actually in development… I was ecstatic. The elation carried over until 2008, post Comic-Con, when the teaser trailer that was showcased there drifted out into the wonderful tubes and turns of the internet.
But now, reality is sinking in. As good as the effects look, I can’t help but identify the pattern of potential Hollywood trash in what I see of the upcoming Tron Legacy’s development.
First things first, the screenwriting team has far too many cooks in the kitchen. And aside from the two Lost writers on the job, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (both of whom I’m fans of), there doesn’t seem to be any talent. Add to that a virtually untried director: Joseph Kosinski. A man we all hope proves to be a Science Fiction mastermind, as he’s also directing the new Logan’s Run. Kosinksi’s commercials include the Gears of War ‘Mad World’ trailer, which admittedly wasn’t bad, and that over the top cinematic one that signaled Halo 3’s arrival.
As cinematographer, Claudio Miranda was tapped, who certainly did an excellent job for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Hopefully his experience with that film’s tech-heavy shooting has prepared him for this challenge.
Jeff Bridges, as you’ve probably surmised from the above references, will be reprising his role of Kevin Flynn, and Garret Hedlund (formerly Achilles’ younger cousin, Patroclus, in 2004’s Troy) will be playing his son, Sam. Add to that John Hurt (narrator of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Dogville, and Manderlay), and House’s Olivia Wilde- and the cast might prove promising.
The premise, according to a Disney press release: “Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.”
My worry is that Tron Legacy will fit into the banal category of style sans substance that we’ve grown all too familiar with. Something that is offered up in IMAX and 3D so as to appease us. But one can hope, despite all the facts lined up against it. Lets just pray that the sequel to a movie we all know and love doesn’t prove to be yet another colorful disappointment.
Tue, Aug 11, 2009
Film