Film Review: TRON: Ares – SLUG Magazine

Arts

TRON: Ares
Director: Joachim Rønning
Sea Bailey Productions
In Theaters: 10.10.25

I’m a member of GenX, which means I may not be from the greatest generation, but I’m still old enough to long for the ‘80s, and to smugly and stubbornly cling to the delusion that every significant piece of pop culture from that era is superior to what gets made now. Memories of my TRON popup book still move me to tears, and the only thing that keeps me from revering the original as a groundbreaking classic is that every ten years or so, I make the mistake of actually watching it. While TRON: Legacy worked well enough as a glossy nostalgia fix, it was overlong and so much in the shadow of The Matrix that it got bogged down in trying to be smart and existential that it was something of a mess. The point I’m trying to make is for me, loving TRON and thinking that it’s great are too different things.   

TRON: Ares follows an advanced program called Ares (Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer’s Club) created by tech mogul Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Mare of Easttown), who sends him from the digital world into reality. The only problem? He can only remain in the real world without breaking down. Determined to weaponize A.I., Julian seeks a mysterious “permanence code” that allows digital beings to exist indefinitely in the real world — a discovery secretly made by ENCOM’s CEO, Eve Kim (Greta Lee, Past Lives), continuing her late sister’s work. When Ares and fellow program Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) are dispatched to retrieve the code, Ares begins to question his purpose after encountering Eve’s compassion. As Julian’s obsession spirals into violence, Eve and her allies fight to free Ares and stop him from weaponizing the code. Torn between his creator’s orders and his growing self-awareness, Ares must decide whether to obey or rebel as the line between human and program dissolves.

I was initially unhappy with the choice of Joachim Rønning to direct, having been less than entertained by the dreadful Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, but last year’s Young Woman and the Sea really turned me around and made me hopeful. Rønning has a strong handle on the eye-popping visual style of the TRON films, and proves himself to be a highly capable action director. The emphasis on action, embracing the silliness and giving us a streamlined plot with an easy-to-compute McGuffin makes TRON: Ares far more enjoyable as an eye candy blockbuster than I was expecting it to be. That’s not to say that it’s a great film, or a great story, but this time around, there’s an unmistakable Terminator influence that I found to  be quite energizing, and the pacing is much more swift than we’ve come to expect from the franchise. Visually, the movie really delivers, but there’s an audible reason for concern: the whole thing is way too damn loud. While it may be a critically incorrect hot take, I don’t love the way Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have become the go-to composers for everything, as I find their music to be repetitive and gimmicky much of the time. But while I’m more fond of Daft Punk‘s score for Legacy, the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack is cool and fun, and it gets the job done, but there are far too many times when the whole theater is shaking from the base, and the dialogue is drowned out (not that the dialogue is ever that important). Between the noise level and the constant flashing lights, this is going to one mighty migraine maker of a movie for many.

As a general rule, Leto’s presence in a movie tends to be a big incentive for me to stay away, but despite looking like Turning Point USA’s version of Jesus Christ doing a commercial for Gorilla Snot hair gel, he’s actually quite well suited for the role. The “what is the thinking about?” feeling of detachment and slightly glazed look in his eyes is perfect for a computer program, and he really nails the lighter moments. It’s great to see Lee starring in a major blockbuster, though this movie certainly doesn’t give any hint of the kind of raw brilliance she’s capable of as an actress. Peters is a charismatic actor who is so skilled that he can get hammy without being insufferable even in a Ryan Murphy series, and his take on Julian Dillinger is young corporate corporate baddie who is basically a Lex Luthor who’s not nearly as fun as Nicholas Hoult’s but miles above Jesse Eisenberg’s nauseating version.

It would be overstating to call TRON: Ares a good film, but it’s a helluva fun TRON movie!  If you’re not already attached to the franchise, you truly have no reason to be seeing this one at all. It’s nothing more and nothing less than a hyperactive, hyperstylized and self aware treat for those who grew up on the original. While it’s not going to make best of the year list by a longshot, I’ll most certainly end up owning a digital copy. —Patrick Gibbs

Read more film reviews by Patrick Gibbs:
Film Review: Roofman
Film Review: A House of Dynamite