I’ve been on the Tron bandwagon for a long time. I remember seeing the original movie wearing a Tron shirt (or pajama top) that had a puffy recreation of the cybersuits on it. I remember seeking out arcades that had Discs of Tron a decade after the movie came out and flopped. I remember being totally psyched about the DVD release and devouring the movie again and finding it… pretty damn good after all.
With all of that in mind I can’t help but be a bit excited about Tron 2 (or Tr2n, in the most obnoxious typography decision since Se7en), despite my years of experience (ie, the Star Wars prequels) lending me much caution. Still, the idea of returning to that universe, with Jeff Bridges back in tow, gets me very, very psyched.
Even when Bridges compares the new movie to Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Don’t worry, he’s not saying it’ll be bloated, but rather he’s comparing that movie’s effects to the version he starred in, way back when everybody in New York hated the Twin Towers and thought it was hilarious to have a monkey scale them. He makes that comparison while talking to The Guardian (thanks to Coming Soon for pointing it out), and he talks about why he’s willing to come back for a second round as Flynn:
Is that why you signed up for the new Tron movie?
Yeah, that’s another unique, wild experience that was too good to turn down. Engaging in that world again feels just like it did all that time ago. Basically, I’m still a child, I love being childlike, and here was another chance to play with these crazy toys. And the cutting-edge technology makes it exciting. Doing the teaser trailer for Comic-Con, I had my first experience of motion capture. And that’s turning the industry on its head. It’s amazing being part of that.
I guess the bummer is that he doesn’t talk about a script, as there probably wasn’t one when he did the Comic Con footage. I’d like to believe that Tron 2 is coming out of a place of creative inspiration, not just fanwank or the bean counters’ realization there’s money to be made here. Is it lame that I really want Tron 2 to just be good?