The mind-blowing aspect of Tron when it first hit theaters in July 1982 was that it portrayed a world inside a video game—a true digital world. Watching Jeff Bridges as "Flynn" jump from game to game in a completely abstract universe required imagination. Yet, no one could conceptualize the idea of that cybernetic world leaving the mainframe of a video game and entering the streets of suburbia.
That's what makes the trailer to Tron: Ares so fulfilling. The second of the trilogy, Tron: Legacy, was woefully underrated. The score, graphics, and direct connection to the original almost 30 years later was mesmerizing. Fans waiting 15 years after that were biting their collective lip until blood rushed out of their nose pending what Jared Leto would bring.
It didn't disappoint at all.
Ares declares war
In 90 seconds, fans of the franchise got everything that was needed to make this fulfilling—a score (this time, by the reunited Nine Inch Nails), graphics (they're brooding, dark, and enigmatic), and direct connection. (Light trails, anyone? They cut through cars with a magma heat emblematic of the hell only a "God of War" could bring with him.
The trailer opens in the physical world at night, as Jared Leto’s Ares, a Program made physical, flees from police on a light cycle, slicing one in half using his light trail as a weapon. The following shots show a massive airship hovering over the real-world city, visible only by the red light strips on its outside.
Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth (Gone Girl, Fight Club, The Social Network) saved his best work for this film. The airship that veers around a building creates the similar sensation as Godzilla in Gareth Edward's reboot from 2014.
It also may as well be the centerpiece of the trailer, although the devilish amber glow of the city and those wonderfully nostalgic jet walls are equally captivating. People are horrified as the initial clash of the digital and the real world initiates and Ares gets a skin, so to speak.
New color, same feels, and hopes for a different result
In what has to be the coldest open of any Disney movie, the Tron: Legacy trailer painted a picture of the past and the future converging, much like Ares does for the real world. There was hype, intrigue and a ton of goodwill into this legacyquel fans couldn't wait to see.
If only they actually did.
Tron: Legacy only grossed $409M, and while that doesn't sound like a flop, the production budget was $170M, and the global orb of marketing was rumored to surpass $200M. Add to that the paycheck Daft Punk earned for that superb score, and the film didn't even earn a profit.
The project turned out to be an egregiously underrated film, although the de-aging of Flynn didn't help at all. Joseph Kosinski is far better than the results of Legacy showed. Just ask fans of Top Gun: Maverick or Oblivion.
The movie deserved better, and Ares director Joachim Ronning knows it. The cast of the new film is comprised of Leto, Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Gillian Andersen, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Cameron Monaghan. Oh, Jeff Bridges is back for what is probably the last part of this technotroika. The costume designer is Emmy Award-winning Alix Friedberg. And did we mention the score?!
AI launching its reign on humanity isn't a new idea, but this could be a fascinating new look. There is enough to build on from two previous movies (both genre-bending) and scripts that would make great books to create a world unlike any other.
As Disney proclaims, there is "no going back." For the way this trailer looks, they better hope so. Back to the theater is where this needs to be seen.