History Film / TronLegacy

%% UncannyValley: YMMV trope.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Since Sam is Kevin's son and owns a controlling interest in Encom stock, he can get away with a lot of legally questionable actions. For example, after breaking into Encom headquarters, stealing its intellectual property, and freely distributing it across the internet, Sam is merely punished with a couple hours in jail and getting his bike impounded. Plus, it's implied that this isn't the first time it's happened.
** To put it more precisely, what can the police even have you prosecuted for, once they find out that the property you stole and the place you broke into belong to you in the first place?

* CampStraight: Although we never really get a hint at whether programs actually have sexual orientations,[[note]]Though it should be noted Jarvis is briefly seen flirting -- badly -- with Gem at the End Of Line Club, and other programs are also seen behaving in behavior that can be viewed as romantic or intimate. Not to mention the subtle romantic plot for Sam and Quorra[[/note]] or even whether the concept of sexual orientation would make any sense in The Grid, Castor is most definitely camp... turned UpToEleven... [[InSpace IN CYBERSPAAAAAAAAACE]]!

* CoolBike: The Light Cycles. The new design takes the cool factor UpToEleven.

* EvilIsHammy: Clu. Turned UpToEleven, of course.

** ''Franchise/StarWars'': The fight on the retractable bridge, the dogfight (complete with Quorra announcing "It's gonna be rough" and flicking some overhead switches), Sam initially mistaking the Light Cycle baton for a lightsaber, and Kevin's resemblance to Obi-Wan. There's also [[DarthVaderClone masked, black-clad]] bad guy Rinzler with an [[HellIsThatNoise unnerving]] VerbalTic and [[spoiler:actually being former good guy Tron, who returns to the light side and tries to kill his evil master at the end]]. Not to mention a largely mute, acrobatically badass [[TheDragon Dragon]] who reveals his weapon to be a double version of everyone else's. The Black Guards, clad in black with red highlights, also have a moment of activating their glowing red DoubleWeapon {{Laser Blade}}s.

** Music/DaftPunk, who did the soundtrack, makes a cameo as the DJ programs in the End of Line Club.
** [[CreatorCameo Producer Steven Lisberger]] as the bartender.

%%* CerebusSyndrome: ''And how''.

* CreatorCameo: Steven Lisberger, who directed ''TRON'' and produced this film, is in the background at the End of Line Club scene as a bartender (the comic book prequel ''TRON: Betrayal'' gives his name as Shaddix).

** [[spoiler:Castor, Zuse's gatekeeper]], actually is Zuse.[[note]]Players of ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' might wonder how Zuse maintains his cover, since his physical appearance [[spoiler:as Castor]] in ''Legacy'' is exactly the same in his cameo in ''Evolution'', just prior to Clu's bid for power and when he was publicly known as Zuse. Surely some programs exist who remember what Zuse looks like?[[/note]]

* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: Quorra to Sam Flynn on the Cycle Grid, inviting him in the Light Runner.

** [[spoiler:Castor, Zuse's gatekeeper]], actually is Zuse.[[note]]Players of ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' might wonder how Zuse maintains his cover, since his physical appearance [[spoiler: as Castor]] in ''Legacy'' is exactly the same in his cameo in ''Evolution'', just prior to Clu's bid for power and when he was publicly known as Zuse. Surely some programs exist who remember what Zuse looks like?[[/note]]

** Clu's last word, [[spoiler: just before Kevin draws Clu back to him and destroys them both.]]

* DemotedToExtra: [[spoiler: Tron himself, due to being under Clu's control for most of the movie.]]

** ''Rinzler'', on the other hand, gets one, falling into the Sea of Simulation. [[spoiler: But even then we see his colors change and it's suggested he has become Tron again, though his fate is not revealed.]]

'''Kevin:''' ''*whack*''\\

-->'''Quorra:''' Get in.
-->''[Sam stands there]''
-->'''Quorra:''' GET. IN.

** A subtle one in the arcade's secret lair. Dust everywhere. Cobwebs. Old lock, key still inside it. [[spoiler: The key, however, is shiny and new.]]

** The [[HellIsThatNoise "purring"]] Rinzler makes is the sound that a corrupted and physically damaged hard drives will make when the stylus skids over a damaged sector. [[spoiler: It's yet another subtle clue that the poor fellow isn't quite operating correctly.]]

The film picks up where the original film's story left off: seven years after defeating the [[BigBad Master Control Program]] and exposing [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ed Dillinger's]] corruption, Encom CEO Kevin Flynn begins work on a new project, one far more ambitious in scope than any of his video games. Flynn claims his new project will change the very nature of human existence, but before he can reveal the nature of this project, he disappears, jeopardizing the Encom software empire -- and orphaning his young son, Sam.

20 years later, Encom has recovered from his disappearance, but Sam has not. Channeling his frustration into a life of extreme activity ([[ChekhovsSkill motorcycle riding, base jumping, etc.]]), Sam holds on to the hope of seeing his father alive again some day -- and, eventually, his hope pays off. Alan Bradley, Kevin's friend/co-worker (who also keeps tabs on Sam in case he decides to take his father's role at Encom), receives a mysterious pager message from the long-abandoned Flynn's Arcade. While investigating the message's origins, Sam discovers a secret lab in the arcade basement, where he unwittingly triggers a digitizing laser that beams him into The Grid.

With the help of the warrior program [[ActionGirl Quorra]], Sam explores the digital world, reunites with his long-lost father, and hatches a plan to escape back to reality, all while being pursued by Clu, the new ruler of The Grid -- who plans on stopping the trio and taking the knowledge from Kevin Flynn for his own nefarious purposes.

A sequel has been in on/off development since before ''Legacy''[='=]s release. The script was worked on for several years, and filming was slated to start in late 2015, with Creator/GarrettHedlund returning as Sam Flynn, Creator/OliviaWilde returning as Quorra, and Joseph Kosinski back in the director's chair. However, it was back-burnered the week after fellow Disney sci-fi film ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'' opened with a lukewarm response. Prospective murmurs of reviving the sequel bubbled up sporadically over the next few years, but solid plans wouldn't resurface until summer 2020, when it was confirmed that the sequel was still an active project. As of now, the only names officially attached are Garth Davis as director and Creator/JaredLeto as lead actor. The return of the ''Legacy'' cast is anticipated but not confirmed, as was the return of Music/DaftPunk's scoring (with a Disney exec even calling it an utmost priority at one point) prior to the announcement of their breakup.

-->-- OpeningMonologue

** When Kevin, Sam and Quorra board the Light Jet on the flight deck, and Quorra is making the jet lift off to escape, Kevin says to her "You got this, Quorra. It's all in the wrists.". In the original ''TRON'', after Kevin has beaten the video game Space Paranoids record at the arcade, he gets asked by an unseen man "Hey Flynn, how'd you do it?". He answers "It's all in the wrists.".

* NotSoDifferent: Clu was created in Kevin's image, so it stands to reason, but his speech to the programs near the end especially bears an uncanny resemblance to the recording of the one Kevin makes near the beginning of the film.

--->'''Clu:''' And whatever we find there, there, our system will grow. There, our system ''will blossom!'' Do this! Prove yourselves! '''Prove yourselves for me!'' Be loyal to me, and I will never betray you!

* FamousLastWords:
** ''"[[KilledMidSentence Death to the Use]]--"''
** "[[CatchPhrase I fight for the Users!]]"
** [[spoiler:"Goodbye, kiddo."]]

* UnfortunateNames: Castor. Strangely, he chose it for himself. Apparently [[spoiler:Zuse]] isn't all that familiar with Greek mythology, otherwise he might have seen his death coming.

* DespairEventHorizon: By the time Sam finds him, his father has long since passed over this. [[spoiler:Betrayal by his creation, murder of his friend, genocide of the people he was hoping would revolutionize the world, large-scale corruption of the world he'd created, and a prolonged, endless struggle with no hope of victory and no escape]] would do that to a man.

* CampStraight: Although we never really get a hint at whether programs actually have sexual orientations,[[note]]Though it should be noted Jarvis is briefly seen flirting -- badly -- with Gem at the End Of Line Club, and other programs are also seen behaving in behavior that can be viewed as romantic or intimate. Not to mention the subtle romantic plot for Sam and Quorra[[/note]] or even whether the concept of sexual orientation would make any sense in The Grid, Castor is most definitely camp... turned UpToEleven... [[InSpace IN CYBERSPAAAAAAAAACE]]!
* CanonDiscontinuity: Nothing from ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' is in this, [[MythologyGag although some aspects of it have been borrowed for this film.]] The game's premise directly contradicts the movie, as the game story had digitization as being impossible for nearly twenty years after the MCP's defeat (as the MCP corrected errors inherent in the process and a new method to take its place took that long), whereas in ''Legacy'', Kevin was digitizing himself regularly after the events of the first movie. Interestingly, both Sam Flynn and Jet Bradley [[ParentalAbandonment lose their mothers at a young age]].

* ThemeTuneCameo: Kevin Flynn hums a few notes of the original movie theme.

A sequel has been in on/off development since before ''Legacy''[='=]s release. The script was worked on for several years, and filming was slated to start in late 2015, with Creator/GarrettHedlund returning as Sam Flynn, Creator/OliviaWilde returning as Quorra, and Joseph Kosinski back in the director's chair. However, it was back-burnered the week after fellow Disney sci-fi film ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'' opened with a lukewarm response. Prospective murmurs of reviving the sequel bubbled up sporadically over the next few years, but solid plans wouldn't resurface until summer 2020, when it was confirmed that the sequel was still an active project. As of now, the only names officially attached are Garth Davis as director and Creator/JaredLeto as lead actor; the return of the ''Legacy'' cast and Music/DaftPunk's scoring is anticipated but not confirmed.

** In the opening scene, ''Film/TheBlackHole'' is clearly seen in one of the shots of the toys on the shelf. Though the director had stated he hoped to do a remake of the film, the reference to the 1979 film wasn't just meant to be a shout forward. It was meant to be a reference to a DevelopmentGag for the original film. Disney wasn't sure if Steve Lisberger, the director of the original film, could direct a film and pull off the glowing effects that he said could be hand animated. So, in order to show they could work and that he could direct, Lisberger had to shoot a short test film to show what he had in mind for the film. For the test film, they reused props and costumes recycled from a recently wrapped film. That film was ''The Black Hole''. So, a TRON film featuring a reference to ''The Black Hole'' makes sense, as ''The Black Hole'' was a part of it's development history.

** In the opening scene, Film/TheBlackHole is clearly seen in one of the shots of the toys on the shelf. Though the director had stated he hoped to do a remake of the film, the reference to the 1979 film wasn't just meant to be a shout forward. It was meant to be a reference to a DevelopmentGag for the original film. Disney wasn't sure if Steve Lisberger, the director of the original film, could direct a film and pull off the glowing effects that he said could be hand animated. So, in order to show they could work and that he could direct, Lisberger had to shoot a short test film to show what he had in mind for the film. For the test film, they reused props and costumes recycled from a recently wrapped film. That film was ''The Black Hole''. So, a TRON film featuring a reference to ''The Black Hole'' makes sense, as ''The Black Hole'' was a part of it's development history.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Played straight and averted by The [=ISOs=] and Clu respectively, the [=ISOs=] are powerful programs who came out of nowhere, and seem to be actual, true AI. While Clu, despite his evil and sadstic nature, is still following Flynns command to him when he was created, unfortunately in the most literal way possible.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Played straight and averted by The [=ISOs=] and Clu respectively, the p=ISOs=] are powerful programs who came out of nowhere, and seem to be actual, true AI. While Clu, despite his evil and sadstic nature, is still following Flynns command to him when he was created, unfortunately in the most literal way possible.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Played straight and averted by The ISOs and Clu respectively, the ISOs are powerful programs who came out of nowhere, and seem to be actual, true AI. While Clu, despite his evil and sadstic nature, is still following Flynns command to him when he was created, unfortunately in the most literal way possible.