TRON: Ares

 “You think you’re in control of this? You’re not.”

Propulsive, polished but predictable, TRON: Ares brings the neon sights and sounds of the Grid into the real world with stunning action set pieces, impressive sound design, and a pulse pounding score from Nine Inch Nails, that sadly can’t fully salvage an otherwise stale exploration of well-trodden themes about AI, technology and humanity. 

Discussion Points:

Definitely style over substance, but it’s so stylish that I was able to enjoy the visual and sonic feast that filled me up like a fast food meal. It’s not good for me, and it pales in comparison to real food, but it looks great, has a familiar taste, and there’s always some nostalgia. TRON: Ares feels like it only half understands what makes TRON so interesting - its musings on metaphysical existence and digital morality. It occasionally has moments that trend towards these themes, but the film feels far more interested in very big, loud, cool fast action sequences - and thankfully they do dazzle. But it’s at the sacrifice of story and characters. Jared Leto really is miscast as Ares, a program with such dry delivery that you never truly care for him. Greta Lee’s Eve is a solid lead, and she gets some great moments of action. Evan Peters is a basic tech bro gone bad who feels under-utilised, and the rest of the cast is similarly serviceable. But the films biggest saving grace is the pounding Nine Inch Nails score that just elevates every action set piece or scene set in the digital Grid. It’s a true aural experience that was bone tingling in IMAX. Overall, TRON: Ares looks and sounds great with impressive VFX, sound design and a fantastic score, but it’s a lot of style over substance, delivering a dumbed down blockbuster that lacks the original source code spark of the classic.