Screenshot: Tron: Legacy/Walt Disney Pictures
The first trailer for the long-in-coming fourth Matrix film dropped last week, and it’s looking good—but were I trying to explain the premise of The Matrix Resurrections based only on that new footage, I’d probably wind up more or less describing The Matrix (the 1999 original, that is). Is this thing really a continuation of the storyline, or is it a reimagining of the first film?
Lana Wachowski is an endlessly inventive filmmaker who’s been part of the creation of some of the most original movie concepts of the past couple of decades, so I have no intention of counting her out. But are we just going back to the same old well when we might better look for something new? And is that even a worthwhile goal?
All stories are iterative to some degree, and fresh looks at old concepts have yielded some of the best and most beloved creative works in in history—but also more than a few needless retreads. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant legacy sequels—past, present, and future—to see if we’ve gotten better or worse at turning nostalgia into art.
