TRON: Legacy was one of my favourite films when I was younger. I remember going to see it in 3D with my dad and loving every second of it. I would end up rewatching the film more times than I could count, and even bought the LEGO Ideas set (it’s pretty sick). So you could imagine my disappointment when sequel talks disappeared without a trace in the early 2010s. But then rumblings of a new Tron film began surfacing in the early 2020s, and I got excited. Fast forward to today, and we have the latest installment in the TRON franchise, TRON: Ares. Directed by Joachim Ronning and starring Jared Leto, this film has been a long time coming. But was it worth the 15-year wait since TRON: Legacy, or should the time have been spent elsewhere?
TRON: Ares takes place 15 years after the events of TRON: Legacy, with the premise being about bringing digital beings into the real world (the whole goal of Clu in Legacy). The two factions leading the charge are ENCOM, now being helmed by Eve Kim after Sam Flynn’s departure, and Dillinger Systems, being led by Julian Dillinger, grandson of Ed Dillinger from the original TRON. Julian has created the program Ares and trained it to be the most effective combat program possible, and is trying to market it to potential buyers and investors. The only problem is that Ares, as well as anything else from the Grid, can’t stay in our world for longer than 29 minutes. Both companies are trying to find a way to solve this flaw, and Kevin Flynn may hold the answer. Who will give permanence to digital constructs first? What will they create? Will the programs obey their masters? This can only end well.
The TRON films have never been masterclasses in storytelling, and that’s no different here. This is a fairly bare bones plot with a couple of interesting moments throughout its runtime, but nothing that really sticks with you after the credits. I did enjoy the natural progression of story beats and ideas from Legacy in terms of the relationship between the real world and the Grid, but I wish they had gone further with it. Have the Grid start to bleed into the real world, or have more programs invade during the final battle. There was so much they could’ve done with this concept, but I think they just missed the mark. And yes, I did miss Sam and Quorra, but I’m going to huff that copium thinking that a sequel will bring them back.
The characters in this film are a mixed bag, with some being really good and others just being ok. Starting with the best, we have Evan Peters as the main antagonist, Julian Dillinger. Dillinger was hands down my favourite character in the film, thanks in no small part to Peters nailing the vibe this type of whiny rich kid character needs. Dillinger throws tantrums and doesn’t think things through, but he’s able to bullshit just good enough to convince people his ideas aren’t stupid. I thoroughly enjoyed every scene he was in, and if a sequel does end up happening, I’m very excited to see what they do with his character.
Moving on to the decent performances, there is Greta Lee as Eve Kim, Jodie Turner-Smith as Athena, and Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn (I’ll explain that last one. Please don’t kill me). These three delivered relatively good performances in this film, but they were heavily let down by the script or lack of screen time. Lee is the biggest example of a great actor, with a shit script, because the girl is trying her best. Some moments are good, such as her first scene in the film, or a few towards the middle, but then other times she has to deliver such cringeworthy dialogue that I feel bad for her. I enjoyed the character, but give this woman better dialogue next time.
The same could be said for Turner-Smith and Bridges, but their performances don’t suffer nearly as much from bad dialogue. Instead, their lack of screen time hampers them the most. Both of these characters play pivotal roles in the plot, yet we barely get to know them before we’re supposed to care. I can forgive Flynn’s limited involvement (cause he technically died in Legacy), but I was so ready to learn more about Athena, and I got nothing. I’m hoping they did have additional scenes that were just cut for time, and a possible extended edition can give these characters more time to shine (also, Cameron Monaghan got done so dirty).
I’ve danced around this last actor for a while now, but I will now be talking about Jared Leto as Ares, and honestly, he wasn’t terrible. I wouldn’t say his performance was great by any means, but it was serviceable for the role. I get what he was going for with the robotic delivery (cause he's a program), but it didn’t constitute an engaging performance. He did make me and my friend laugh a few times (unintentionally) with Ares' fascination with the 80s, which I would put money on as Leto’s hyperfixation of the day, and he forced it into the script.
Despite all its issues, the TRON series has always had amazing visuals and music, and TRON: Ares is no different. This film oozes style in every facet of its production and it helps elevate what would be an average film into a good film. Starting with the visuals, they look phenomenal. Some naysayers were claiming the film looked bad from the trailers, but they were proven very wrong within the first few minutes of the film. The way the programs are created, with all the circuits and data streams forming their bodies, is a marvel to look at. The multiple Grids the film shows also look great and are visually distinct from one another. I liked how you could tell the purpose of each Grid just from the design alone, and without having to be told.
I also really liked how they brought elements from the Grid into the real world, and I think they executed it excellently. The section of the film where there is a lightcycle chase is hands down my favourite sequence. I especially enjoyed it when the light trails activated and turned the city streets into one big game grid. The craziest part about this is that none of it looked out of place or burdened by dodgy CGI; everything looked phenomenal.I would be remiss not to mention the soundtrack, done this time by Nine Inch Nails, because it’s a certified bop. It was always going to be hard to follow Daft Punk’s work on Legacy, but Nine Inch Nails did an amazing job of both keeping a similar vibe and creating something original to them and this film. My favourite track was “Target Identified”, which plays during the aforementioned lightcycle chase. I found myself bopping along to not only this track, but to the entire soundtrack throughout the film. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought the limited edition vinyl (it’s translucent red!). Needless to say, Nine Inch Nails delivered.
Is TRON: Ares the best film this year? No. But is it the worst? Also no. TRON: Ares is a good film elevated by outstanding visuals and a certified bop of a soundtrack. The story may be a bit of a letdown, and some characters didn’t reach their full potential, but the film is still a fun watch. If Jared Leto’s involvement is enough for you to avoid this film like the plague, I get it, but I still think this film is worth checking out. If for nothing else so we can get another TRON film, where we can get another banging soundtrack.
Have you seen TRON: Ares? What did you think? Is Jared Leto a dealbreaker? Let us know in the comments where we can talk all things TRON.
