TRON : Uprising
Disney XD
Well, I finally got a chance to watching the opening episode of the new animated series Tron : Uprising. I've got to admit, I was actually starting to wonder if the project would be cancelled before it had even started; two years had gone by since I'd discovered a preview of it in my Ultimate Tron set I had once purchased as a limited edition release from Amazon.com. I'm fuzzy on the details of why it apparently took so long, but it's finally here. The good news is that, so far, it appears to be pretty good.
In fact, just from looking at the pilot alone it can very easily be argued that Disney has delivered something a heck of a lot closer to the real nitty gritty this time around. While Tron Legacy was a good movie that just didn't feel much like Tron itself, TU goes all out and really does come across to appearing to be what Legacy hoped of being in the first place. This is easily the most ambitious animated series Disney has delivered since House of Mouse, full of spectacular art direction and a wonderful combination of both hand drawn craftsmanship and superb CGI, and I sure hope it keeps up this level of quality.
Without giving anything away, I'll just say that the only thing that made me give a tiny groan had to do with the whole "but I'm not special" scene, which was pretty predictable. Plus, after that, the whole secret-crusader style thing elicited a shrug from me, as in, "What, again?" since it's been done so much before (you'll see what I mean about both points I'm talking about here). But that's being pretty nitpicky: the concept actually feels well-handled here, which only goes to show that it's not necessary whether the story's been done before, but rather how well it is told and executed.
I'll try to add more thoughts as I see more episodes. Meantime, do check it out and see if you don't agree.
Oh, and a quick note for all my fellow smartphone users (no pun intended): the first two episodes can be downloaded for free (a limited time promotion?) from iTunes, and further episodes of Tron : Uprising can also be watched on Disney's free downloadable Disney XD app.
-Warning Spoiler Alert-
ReplyDeleteI loved the original Tron and Tron:Legacy. I don't understand your sentiment that Legacy didn't feel like the original Tron.
Moving on though, a lot of reviews say the CGI is great and I agree. A lot of reviews are saying the acting and writing are well done. I think the acting and writing are geared towards the TV-14 audience. I'm not saying the writing and acting are bad, I'm just saying they remind me of the Saturday morning cartoons I enjoyed growing up.
My single greatest grievance with this movie is the storyline: In Tron: Legacy, Tron was defeated by Clu and reprogrammed as Rinzler. His fighting capabilities were still there, but he became Clu's champion and bodyguard until the end of the movie when he makes eye contact with Flynn. At that moment some of Tron's original programming/memories flickered back to him and he turns against Clu crying out "I fight for the users!" It's an awesome, redeeming moment reminiscent of when Darth Vader decides to turn against the Emperor to save his son and sacrifices himself while doing so.
Tron: Uprising directly conflicts with Tron: Legacy. In this alternate plot Tron isn't killed by Clu but just left for dead. Tron is weak though and goes into hiding. Weak-Tron then trains another program named Beck to run around the Grid disguised as Tron, fighting Clu's minions.
With this storyline the events of Tron: Legacy can't happen. Unless weak-Tron somehow becomes awesome and powerful Rinzler, forgets that he's just pretending to be Rinzler, fights against the Flynns, and then remembers he's only pretending to be Rinzler and finally turns against Clu. Also Clu just happens to trust weak-Tron(now mysteriously powerful Rinzler) to become his champion & bodyguard. If that's the case though, why didn't Clu order his weak-Tron(now mysteriously powerful Rinzler) champion fight against Beck, who is only pretending to be Tron?
I don't know about you but I like sequels/prequels to not mangle their plot lines.
Actually, it could. Remember, T:Uprising takes place before Legacy. Tron should have been be re-purposed in the last episode, becoming Rinzler (remember, he was made weak due a virus that was inserted into his body). It also gives the audience the reason why Tron turns against CLU in the movie (which to many people, made no sense). However, I guess the producers thought there would be a second season....
Delete