Disney is pulling out all the stops in promoting the bejeezus out of “Tron: Legacy,” and who can blame them? They’ve dropped obscene amounts of money on a sequel to a cult fave that has as almost as many detractors as supporters. So, if the studio wants to turn this thing into a mini-“Avatar,” serious marketing muscle is going to be required.
In an attempt to build anticipation, the folks over at Trailer Addict have posted up a brief clip from the film that is, frankly, rather lame. I mean, I’m really not a fan of the whole modern movie business sensibility that fans need to be placated with advance clips and 15-minute chunks prior to release, but Disney’s decision to release this particular snippet is a mite baffling.
What we get is a one minute of exposition as Olivia Wilde’s character drives Garrett Hedlund’s protagonist around the pitch-black TRON construct. Rather than feel like a glimpse of something novel or interesting it vaguely resembles the scene from “Batman Begins” in which Batman drives Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes to the Batcave crossed with “Speed Racer.” Only it’s more generic. It’s also a tad distracting how Wilde wildly jerks the steering wheel from side to side despite the fact the car is going in more-or-less a straight line.
Although many across the Internet have already marked their calendars for the Dec. 17 release of “Tron: Legacy,” I’m really curious to see whether Disney’s painstaking marketing efforts allow them to grab hold of the mainstream in a big bad way. While I have to admit that I’ve been largely unmoved by what I’ve seen so far (especially “Polar Express” Jeff Bridges!), it would be nice to see a big 3D family-friendly holiday blockbuster accomplish the near-impossible and hit all the right emotional notes without feeling like shallow eye-candy. Time will tell.
How do you IJMers feel about this latest “TRON” sneak-peak? Does it make you more excited for the film? Or should Disney have been a little more discerning in their clip selection process? Zap on over to our comments section and let us know!
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Follow Cam Smith on Twitter at http://twitter.com/camspcepisodes.
This clip makes this movie look retarded.
This isnt the best clip to showcase the awesomeness of this movie, it was one of the ones shown at the TRON: LEGACY preview night. But this movie is going to be epic!