Tron: Ares arrives fifteen years after Tron: Legacy, which itself released 28 years after the 1982 original. Regardless of one’s opinions on the original two movies, there’s no denying that they were both groundbreaking technical achievements that expanded the possibilities of visual storytelling in film.
By contrast, for better or for worse, Tron: Ares is a fun sci-fi flick. That’s not to say it’s not gorgeous (it is!), but it also doesn’t move the needle in terms of the possibilities of filmmaking like the first two did. This time, the protagonists are Jared Leto as Ares, a techno-soldier with a soul, and Greta Lee as Eve Kim, the CEO of ENCOM. Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde are conspicuously absent this time around, which might annoy the cult fandom that’s accumulated around Tron: Legacy over the last 15 years. There are Easter Eggs here and there, but not enough for this to feel more like a soft reboot than a proper sequel. There’s even an obligatory (but completely superfluous) appearance by Jeff Bridges in the third act. While it’s always nice to see him, his appearance here is pointless fanservice… And I’m generally a lover of pointless fanservice, so make of that what you will.
Jared Leto plays a computer program who gains sentience and winds up teaming up with his would-be quarry to fight against the increasingly unhinged corporate espionage of Dillinger (a deliciously wacky Evan Peters) and his buttoned-up mama, played by Gillian Anderson. Jared Leto is surprisingly underserved as a program who wants to be human. He doesn’t live in a cyber-city like The Grid, but a constrained computer system, with little reason given towards his sudden sentience beyond it being necessary to put the story into motion. Even then, there’s not much done with his budding sentience, beyond sharing his love of a certain 1980s pop band.
His character works best when paired with his fellow program, Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), who is firmly dedicated to her status as a program who serves the will of her User. She’s easily the low-key MVP of the film. Greta Lee does a good job as Eve Kim, though she’s often held back by her comic relief sidekick, played by Arturo Castro, though, as comic relief sidekicks go, he’s not bad at all. It’s just that Eve Kim has room for depth that goes unexplored in favor of racing towards the next eye-popping action sequence… Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that, especially when the action is this exciting.
Visually, the film is pretty fantastic, even if it doesn’t break new ground. The main conceit of the adventure, the ability to bring Tron-esque technology into the real world, allows for wonderful action sequences, like a light cycle chase on the streets of a big city. Beyond that, there’s also a great sequence that visualizes “hacking” with intrusive programs acting like an elite Spec Ops team sneaking into a fortified base. All credit to director Joachim Rønning and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, who treat every action sequence like a show-stopping dance number from a century-old MGM musical.
Then, of course, there’s the Nine Inch Nails of it all. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross offer a different vibe from the whimsical electronica of Daft Punk’s score for Legacy. Their gritty, industrial aesthetic fits the themes of the film, from corporate espionage to the privatization of the military “industrial” complex, pun intended.
Tron: Ares is well-made and entertaining, but frustratingly unambitious in its storytelling. In an attempt to reel back from the over-extended Tron: Legacy, the result is a serviceable sci-fi action flick with impeccable aesthetics that’s based on a generic script that doesn’t offer anything more than lip service to the grander themes of the series. It feels more like a $180 million pulse check than a proper next chapter, but if you want to see some sick-ass light cycle action like you’ve never seen before, where else are you gonna go?
Final Score: 7/10
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