Tron baby Tron

The information has been carefully fed in, the numbers have been painstakingly tabulated by hyper-sophisticated computer, and it seems that just oodles of us went to watch Alice in Wonderland over the weekend. It will not have escaped the attention of all those eager Alice-watchers either, that the latest cinematic trip down the rabbit hole was preceded by a brand new trailer for Tron Legacy.

Due for release on 17 December this year, Tron Legacy is Disney's sequel to its 1982 movie, curtly entitled Tron, in which writer-director Steven Lisberger delivered one of the first mainstream films that incorporated computer-generated imagery. Yay for him. However, while fabulous design work from the likes of Syd Mead and Jean Giraud ensured that Lisberger's tale of Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner getting themselves into digital danger was certainly visually arresting, the movie was hampered by tepid story execution.

Now, obviously CGI is more ubiquitous at 2010 multiplexes than popcorn that tastes like the polystyrene bits they use to pack breakable items for air freight, so if Tron Legacy is not going to be this year's answer to Speed Racer then its makers have two primary boxes to tick. Firstly that the script is an adroitly judged blend of ingenious plot, compelling characters, and edge-of-the-seat action. And secondly, that the effects work is so utterly wizard that it could knock that Potter lad into a stars-and-moon-decorated pointy hat.

Regards the former, the fresh as a daisy trailer (which was made available online via Disney's 'Flynn Lives' viral marketing campaign) tells us very little. We already knew that the plot of Tron Legacy revolves around Sean Flynn (played by Troy actor Garrett Hedlund) investigating the quarter-century old vanishing of dad Kevin (a returning Jeff Bridges), and subsequently being sucked into a computer world of coded craziness. And the only real bit of story we get from the new trailer pertains to this basic set-up, with Alan Bradley (the back-again Bruce Boxleitner) managing to pique the interest of a cynical Sean with regards to the possible locating of the long-absent Kevin. So as to whether the story of Tron Legacy will be a sizzling hot feast of invention or a lukewarm dollop of lumpy narrative soup is still very much open to question.

What does seem apparent though from this new trailer, is that the visuals are looking really rather super, with the updates on the innovative designs of the original movie serving to successfully impart a healthy sense of identity onto the CPU realm into which Sean ventures. These treats for the peepers are in turn further augmented by the bombastic scoring, which presumably arrives courtesy of announced Tron Legacy composers Daft Punk. The version below only comes in 2D (er, you could try pressing your face against the screen as hard as you can to try and simulate a face-slapping 3D experience, though we must add that any personal injury claims resulting from the following of this advice should be addressed to the Indie Movies office in Timbuktu), but those who caught the trailer ahead of an Alice screening will be able to testify that the concluding light bikes dust-up looks exceedingly nifty in three-dimensions.

Second Tron around, Steven Lisberger returns in a producing capacity only, with the key creative roles having been turned over to younger guns. Lost alumni Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis have worked on the screenplay, while the man in the director's chair is special effects ace Joseph Kosinski; for whom the monster-budget Tron Legacy actually – and you would think slightly intimidatingly - represents a feature debut. As well as being shot in 3D (Kosinski has previously noted that, “Ours is sort of a Wizard of Oz approach. 98% of the 3D is in the world of Tron. The 3D really starts once we get into the Tron world”), Tron Legacy is also due to feature five sequences shot in IMAX.