Tron's Legacy: How to Write New Code for a Sequel

by Zach Oat January 18, 2011 5:06 PM
Tron's Legacy: How to Write New Code for a Sequel

So the long-awaited Tron Legacy finally arrived last month, and... it was widely considered somewhat of a disappointment. Depending on the level of nostalgia in the person you ask, it was a major disappointment. Impeccably stylish, it was also dark and somber and incredibly reminiscent of the first movie, which was a cult favorite at best. But while the reboot was a critical dud, it was a box office success -- not a smash hit, but enough of a hit to reportedly make a sequel the cornerstone of Disney's plans for the franchise (which also involves a cartoon, more toys and, God willing, a lightcycle-based theme park ride). But rather than continue down the same programming code as the first movie, we hope the next one gets a Clu and really shakes things up.

1. More Action, Less Explainin'
Nonstop action isn't always the best thing, but so much of Legacy involved Sam Flynn wondering what was going on, Kevin Flynn explaining why he'd been off the Grid for 20 years, or Sam and Kevin catching up on each other's lives. There was even a long freight-train ride (hobo style!) in the middle for them to talk while moving very slowly. Boy, did it get boring sometimes. Next time around, we need more fights and battles, but not just any kind...

2. Show Us Something New
Besides a new skin for the Grid and some updated effects, Legacy covered a lot of familiar ground. The disc battle and light cycle battles were basically updates of what we'd seen before, and the plane chase was like playing 1942 on the Nintendo, which was fun in 1984, but is now one of the most boring video games on Earth. (It even had the old "flying straight up, then diving down" trick we'd seen as recently as The A-Team.) Basically, much of the movie was the equivalent of chrome apples and pixelated fire, both of which could be found in Kevin Flynn's living room -- interesting to look at, but the next movie had better revolutionize more than just home décor.

3. Maybe Have Tron Show Up?
For a movie called Tron Legacy, Tron himself played a very small part in it. Spoiler alert if you haven't seen Legacy -- and meaningless babble alert if you haven't seen either of them -- the fact that Tron had been reformatted as Clu's enforcer Rinzler was a cool revelation with very little payoff. Hopefully, Rinzler's flickering fate at the end of the film will mean a grand return of Tron in the Legacy sequel, and maybe a bigger role for Bruce Boxleitner now that Jeff Bridges is no longer needed.

4. Sark 2: Electric Boogaloo It's more or less a given that Cillian Murphy will return, since he made a cameo appearance in Legacy as Ed Dillinger, Jr., the son of the first film's villain. But while a Grid version of Murphy would be great to see, I'd also love to catch up with Daddy Dillinger, played by David Warner. His Sark and MCP programs may have been destroyed, but he's gotta be holding a grudge against Encom and the Flynn family, mustn't he? Even though his son still works there?

5. Four Words: Daft Punk Fight Scene
We're assuming the DJ duo snuck out of the End of Line Club when everything went down, and lived to fight another day. Surely, the real-life pair wouldn't be averse to having a couple of stunt doubles don the helmets and do some breakdance fighting when the chips are down? It's so hot right now.

What do you want to see in a Tron Legacy sequel? Let us know below, then see which other actors should pull a Jeff Bridges and

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