Tron: Ares

Note: This review contains spoilers for Tron: Legacy.

About fifteen years after the release of Tron: Legacy, and coincidentally about fifteen years after the start of this blog, Tron fans finally witnessed the release of a third film, Tron: Ares. Although Legacy director Joseph Kosinski had plans for a sequel, which would have been known as Tron: Ascension, it entered development hell due to a combination of Tomorrowland bombing at the box office and Disney’s buyouts of Lucasfilm and Marvel, though the company never outright cancelled it. Around 2017, plans shifted to the Jared Leto-led sequel that we have now, with a different writer (Jesse Wigutow), director (Joachim Rønning) and composer (Nine Inch Nails) to boot. As a fan of the franchise, I felt hyped going in despite the chosen lead, as I simply felt glad that Disney gave us more Tron at all. However, now that I’ve actually seen Ares, in IMAX 3D no less, I can happily say that although it’s not the best written installment, it was well worth the fifteen-year wait.

Fifteen years after the events of Legacy, ENCOM and Dillinger Systems, now led by Ed Dillinger’s grandson Julian (Evan Peters), race to bring digital constructs into the real world. However, neither can sustain these constructs for more than 29 minutes, so they seek the “permanence code” to break the barrier. Current ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) travels with colleague Seth Flores (Arturo Castro) to a remote station in Alaska formerly occupied by Kevin Flynn, believing that his computers hold the answer. Meanwhile, Julian creates Ares (Jared Leto), a new Master Control Program, and shows it off to shareholders as a perfect, expendable soldier. What Julian doesn’t anticipate, however, is that Ares has become self-aware and grows more interested in living.

Eve Kim (Greta Lee, right) and Seth Flores (Arturo Castro, left)
seek the "permanence code".

With such a long wait between films, I’ll admit that I was disappointed at first that Ares doesn’t follow up on the lingering thread from the end of Legacy, as that could have fueled a movie on its own. There is, thankfully, a tease that a potential fourth film might, but that did make me wonder what we would have gotten if the franchise continued with Ascension instead.

Since I waited for so long for more Tron, however I put those feelings aside and met the story on its own terms. I did like some aspects about it, including acknowledging the increased proliferation of artificial intelligence (in this case, actual artificial intelligence and not machine learning, though Ares’ creation appeared to involve some form of machine learning) and a discussion of how the technology that ENCOM and Dillinger Systems are fighting over isn’t inherently good or bad and depends on the intent of the user. I also liked Ares’ character arc, in which he grows empathy and desires existence beyond his original programming, and loved the plot-relevant callbacks to the original Tron that demonstrate a reverence and care for what came before. There’s also a quick reference to Frankenstein that contributes to Ares’ growth, but made me realize some parallels with its storyline of the creator confronting and fearing its creation.

Still, it doesn’t have the best writing, especially without much of the nuance from Legacy. Protagonists and antagonists are very clear cut, Ed Dillinger has pretty shallow characterization, other characters don’t have much depth and the plot is very simple. Though I wouldn’t try to spin these as strengths, I appreciated that the film still felt tonally consistent with its predecessors and thought the plot did a great job of moving the story along in an organic way. The acting is fine as well, with a surprisingly good performance from Jared Leto (based on what little I’ve seen of his filmography).

Jared Leto is surprisingly good as Ares.

Fortunately, Ares fires on all cylinders with the immaculate CG. There’s a lot of attention to detail, like how Dillinger’s method of bringing digital objects into the real world resembles 3D printing vs how ENCOM’s method resembles what we had seen in Tron and Legacy. Dillinger’s Grid and its interpretations of iconic elements like Light Cycles and Recognizers have a “brutal” quality to them and also expand the world with more vehicles and weapons that can have light trails. I also liked the appearance of the Dillinger version of the Identity Disc, both as a contrast to the traditional circular Identity Disc and for having a visually appealing design. Although most of the action takes place in the real world, the digital elements are seamlessly integrated within and show some untapped potential with fight choreography, chase scenes and interactions with light trails.

From the moment the film starts, Nine Inch Nails impresses with a score that not only fits in with the style of Tron, but also has hints of Daft Punk’s work on Legacy while also standing out with its own distinct style. The lead single, “As Alive as You Need Me to Be”, sadly isn’t heard for very long, but it alone sets the tone for the kind of music you can expect. It should say something if, once the credits finished, I knew I wanted a physical copy of the score (something I consider a sign of quality).

Whether you’ve been anticipating a third Tron film or at least want an incredible visual spectacle, Tron: Ares has you covered, especially in IMAX. Hopefully, if we do get a fourth film, we won’t have to wait another fifteen years for it.