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Tron: Uprising Season Finale ‘Terminal’ Review!

Jan 302013

Tron dying

Tron: Uprising’s first season 1 has finally ended, after the series started airing in May last year it has followed a rather irregular schedule which I think contributed to the show’s declining ratings. Disney has further honored the series by placing it in a midnight timeslot thus squeezing it off from a vital young demography. All this has irritated fans of the show who now understand that it’s first season may also be it’s last. I think Tron: Uprising is a top quality show and it’s season finale ‘Terminal’ is an example of that.

Mara blames Tron

As for the plot of ‘Terminal’…

The episode continues with immediate aftermath of Able’s death. Though Beck knows that Able sacrifice himself Mara thinks ‘The Renegade’ abducted her and caused Able to sacrifice himself. While Tron and Beck are practicing their fighting skills Tron becomes ill with the virus that he has been affected with, despite Beck’s efforts Tron warns him that he has two or three cycles left to live. While Beck is strolling through Argon he is ambushed by Cutler, who reveals that he knows that a weapon CLU built is on it’s way to Argon city. Cutler convinces Beck to meet him at the docks as ‘The Renegade’, Beck is ambushed again by Cutler but this time for real. It is revealed that CLU has repurposed Cutler and has send him to flush out Tron.

Healing chamber ruined by Beck

Beck manages to flee in a light-jet but is pursued by Cutler’s henchmen, Cutler orders them to bring in Beck alive but during the spectacular pursuit they don’t seem to care. Finally Beck is cornered, Cutler tells him that he knows Tron is ill and that he has one chance to save himself with handing himself in. Tron deliberates this, there is a chance that is Beck can interrupt the procedure he will be healed but not repurposed. Beck states they have no other choice. Meanwhile, General Tesler’s right hand man Pavel has taken over command of Able’s garage, this prompts Mara, Zed and the other workers to plan a revolt. While Tron is in Cutler’s healing chamber Beck is moving through the recognizer to reach him. Beck manages to do so just in time, Tron even succeeds into letting Cutler briefly think that he was repurposed.

Beck as the Renegade being pursued

Both Tron and Beck try to escape the recognizer but are cornered by Cutler, as Beck fights him Cutler’s repurposing seems to show cracks. Even though Beck tries to completely undue the procedure he fails and has to let go off Cutler who falls into the depths of the recognizer. After the recognizer has crashed near Able’s garage Beck fights off Pavel’s guards to help Tron escape, Mara and her co-workers decide this is the moment to start their own rebellion and join the fight. Meanwhile General Tesler angrily asks Paige what the recognizer he has never seen before is doing in Argon city, she tells him it must be CLU’s doing. The final scene of the episode show CLU’s fleet approaching Argon city with CLU being accompanied by Dyson on his flagship.

Pavel takes over Able’s garage

Conclusion…

This last episode of the season is very effectively written, all scenes have a clear purpose and pacing is very fast. The episode’s light-jet pursuit is nothing short of spectacular and so is the final showdown between Tron, Beck and Cutler. The small scene for Paige and General Tesler was a bit of a disappointment but there was little room for them in the plot. The arrival of CLU is an effective cliffhanger for the next season. My hopes are that the show will continue and that the storyline between Beck and Paige will be further fleshed, I hope there will also be more eappearances of Dyson and Quorra.

Mara and Zed

I fear however that Tron: Uprising won’t be back for another season, you don’t have to be an idiot to understand that the ratings aren’t spectacular. In part Disney themselves are to blame for that with poor marketing and the choice of an 22-minute per episode format that fails to allow storylines to be fleshed out. Creative choices such as trying to appeal to a very wide audience may also be to blame. The high-points of this show so far have been the spectacular visuals and excellent soundtrack which is now available for retail.

I hope we see Tron: Uprising back.

TRON Lives!

Best quote; Tron: ‘Good news! I’m healed! Bad news! I’m healed’ while attacking Cutler’s guards.

Score; 9 / 10.

Cutler with a bomb

Cutler’s guards

General Tesler and Paige

Tron with virus scars

Tron being healed by Cutler

Recognizer crashes near Able’s garage

Mara working in Able’s shop

Mara starts the rebellion

Cutler henchmen collides with light beam -

Cutler fighting Beck

Cutler and Beck

CLU’s new recognizer

CLU and Dyson

Beck tries to save Tron

Beck as the Renegade

Argon city harbor

Source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron:_Uprising

Neuromancer movie may star Mark Wahlberg and Liam Neeson!

Film 1 Response »

Aug 012012

A Neuromancer movie has been in the making almost since 1989, after a few years of Hayden Christensen and Joseph Kahn we got word that Vincenzo Natalie (Cube, Cypher) is attached to the project. That was a major relief to fans of Neuromancer as it was believed he may handle the subject appropriately. The last thing fans want is for this movie to get a PG-13 rating, they want an R movie and nothing less. Despite Natalie’s involvement things quickly grew quiet again, funding seemed to be the major problem. At last it was rumored he wouldn’t even direct but just produce the movie. Earlier this year more rumors circulated that funding had finally been obtained and that preliminary production had started. Now there has been talk that Mark Wahlberg is attached to the project to play the anti-hero Case and Liam Neeson would play Armitage (the main antagonist).

Apparently Mark Wahlberg has connections with film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and that seems to have given him the edge. Fans have so far responded lukewarm to Wahlberg’s casting and I have to admit myself that I can’t really see him playing Case (he is too old for one). However, maybe we all just need to warm up to the idea for a while. Liam Neeson’s casting seems very solid and has been warmly recieved. For most fans the biggest question is…. Who will play Molly? The famous razorgirl that has may geek hearts pumping faster. Carrie-Anne Moss’s character Trinity from the Matrix Trilogy was largely inspired by Molly but I am afraid she is getting on a bit (44 years old),

So, from my bag of sci-fi chicks I nominate 5 plausible girls to play Molly.

1. Olivia Wilde. She resembles Molly physically the most and is a well established actress. Despite playing a rather complicated character on House I wonder if she really has the ability to play the femme-fatale Molly. Olivia is also hesitant about nudity in movies so that will put a Neuromancer with her in the PG-13 bracket.

2. Summer Glau. Her character from The Terminator Chronicles and Alphas is similar to Molly.

3. Noomi Rapace. She has of course played a hacker in the swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but otherwise seems to be a bit too petit to resemble Molly, her character in Prometheus was also not really to my liking.

4. Jaime Murray. Has played many femme fatales and seems to be able to put on a serious character as well. That said she mostly does TV work and that has already eliminated a few actresses.

5. Anna Torv. She has the ability to play wildly differing characters and with a bit of hair dye easily resembles Molly, though I am afraid she also mainly just does TV work.

Runner-uppers are Tricia Helfer, Bridget Moynahan, Carrie-Anne Moss, Claudia Black and Jolene Blalock.

***UPDATE***

Some fans on the net have been busy speculating about other actresses for the role of Molly.

Apparently Erica Cerra (Eureka) and Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) are top contenders. The former is interesting but unlikely and the latter’s version of Lisbeth Salander was not as inspiring as Noomi Rapace’s version. Other Actresses such as Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich and Natalie Portman are interesting but too exposed to convincingly play the role. Jeri Ryan might cause fans to get distracted (Ahemmmm). Linda Hardy (Immortal) and Evangeline Lilly (Lost) are also two plausible contenders though the latter’s character of Kate on Lost was not really to my liking.

In the end we are looking for plausible actresses and not really famous ones who have high exposure. At this moment I would say Olivia Wilde and Noomi Rapace are the likely picks with Anna Torv and Summer Glau behind them mostly because they have done more TV work.

“In Time” first preview.

Film No Responses »

Aug 032011

‘In Time’ is Andrew Niccol’s latest sci-fi flick and is coming to the big screen this october. Niccol’s is of course famous for some excellent other sci-fi movies such as Gattaca and The Truman Show. The cast consists of Amanda Seyfried (Chloe), Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy (Inception and 28 days later) and Olivia Wilde (House and Tron Legacy). Just in case your wondering why the casts consists solely of the young and beautiful, well…. It’s because in the future people are immortal and never age. But don’t let me ruin the synopsis for you by describing it with a hundred lines. Here’s wiki version.

‘In a stunning retro-future when the aging gene has been switched off, people must pay to stay alive. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest try to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man is accused of murder when he inherits a fortune of time from a dead upper class man, though too late to help his mother from dying. He is forced to go on the run from a corrupt police force known as ‘time keepers’.’

Well, that about sums it as it well should. My first impression of the trailer was not entirely favorable, somehow the mix of LA urban setting and 1960′s stylised cars don’t work for me like it did the setting of Gattaca.

The movie scheduled to be released on october the 28th, it has a fair budget of 100 million (lets hope we will see that on the screen as well) and will be entirely shot digitally. No doubt we will have more coverage until the release date.