True to its subtitle, 2010’s Tron: Legacy was a prototype for what we now consider the legacy sequel. Taking place 28 years after the groundbreaking original film, it follows the now-adult son of Tron‘s protagonist responding to a distress message sent by his dad from the virtual world introduced in the first movie. That makes the function of Tron: Ares, the latest in what is now a bit of an odd trilogy, within the franchise somewhat ponderous. Sure, it takes place within the same universe, and contains appearances (some longer than others) from a few familiar faces, but what exactly does it add to the series? As a spiritual successor, it certainly pulls off hallmarks of the previous two entries with another killer music score and terrific visual effects. But beyond those ephemeral pleasures, the movie never quite establishes its mission statement and reason for being.
The storyline of Tron: Ares centers around a pair of CEOs from competing tech companies racing to conjure digital concoctions into the real world. There’s Dillinger Systems head Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who is able to laser-print out iterations of AI soldiers like Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) at the touch of a button, but the manifestations can’t last a half an hour without crumbling. Knowing this limitation, the leader of ENCOM, Eve Kim (Greta Lee), is on the hunt for the “permanence code” that will allow programmed creations to exist without an expiration. In the midst of Dillinger and Kim’s high-stakes feud, the original versions of Ares and Athena, whose consciousnesses exist in a server known as The Grid, are beginning to develop complex feelings and yearn for a deeper purpose.
While action spectacles like this typically aren’t performance-first affairs anyway, the homogeneous acting in Tron: Ares does little to expand on the threadbare plot. Ironically, Jared Leto is a great choice for a robotic program created to obey straightforward prompts, but when his character is meant to evolve emotionally, his stilted performance doesn’t follow the same trajectory. Evan Peters is almost 40 but somehow, he still carries a boyish appearance that doesn’t do him any favors in a role like this where he has to bark orders at subordinates. Leto and Peters have been pretty plug-and-play in blockbusters like this before but the presence of Greta Lee is particularly depressing. After a revelation of a performance in 2023’s Past Lives, which should’ve gotten her an Oscar nod, she’s reduced here to running away from a legion of VFX munitions and looking sexy in leather on a futuristic motorcycle.
These Light Cycles, the central piece of iconography from the Tron series, are wisely featured again in Ares and in keeping with the central theme of bringing the digital world into the real world, the film makes a concerted effort to utilize practical effects. The best parts of the movie are the chase scenes where characters on Light Cycles, previously limited to the confines of the Grid, zoom and weave through traffic on busy city highways. These vehicles are, of course, enhanced by special effects and instead of leaning into the blue aesthetic of its predecessors, director Joachim Rønning opts instead for the more urgent and sinister hue of red for this chapter. The blending of the digitized and the tangible is outstanding — I didn’t see the movie in 3D but I’d avoid it, given its tendency to dim all on-screen colors — and thanks to cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, the entire production is handsomely mounted.
If one goes into Tron: Ares expecting nothing more than a pretty light show and a way to listen to the new Nine Inch Nails record in surround sound, they won’t be disappointed. But those looking for a sci-fi actioner that actually has a compelling narrative, or even a story that makes sense, will have to look elsewhere. The movie technically has protagonists but there’s barely a rooting interest in any of them, just enough for them to have any reason to run away from the villains. This is also the kind of movie where artificial intelligence is supposedly on the cusp of superseding humankind but its incarnations make fundamental tactical errors on the regular. Aside from contributing lucrative ideas to Disney’s theme parks, it’s hard to say what else Tron as a brand has to offer the world of cinema at this point.
Score – 2.5/5
New movies coming to theaters this weekend:
Black Phone 2, starring Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames, is a supernatural horror movie in which the only known survivor of the serial killer known as The Grabber must put an end to his continued reign of terror from beyond the grave.
Good Fortune, starring Aziz Ansari and Keanu Reeves, is a supernatural comedy following a well-meaning but rather inept angel who meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist.
After The Hunt, starring Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, is a psychological thriller involving a college professor who’s forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues is faced with a serious accusation.
Reprinted by permission of Whatzup