In the science fiction cult classic “Tron,” released in 1982, two characters share a brief yet prophetic exchange about the future of technology, discussing that computers will be thinking for themselves one day. Now, 43 years later, that future comes to pass in the third film in the franchise, “Tron: Ares.”
Set 15 years after the events of 2010’s “Tron: Legacy,” this new film follows the titular character Ares (Jared Leto), an advanced security program created by Jullian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who was brought into the real world. The series had previously always followed humans entering the digital world, otherwise known as the grid. Now, “Ares” flips the formula on its head, and with it, introduces new problems to overcome.
Although humans can stay in the digital world indefinitely, digital constructs can only stay in the real world for upwards of 29 minutes before disintegrating. This leads two rival tech companies, ENCOM and Dillinger Manufacturing, to race against each other to find the key to keeping digital creations in this world. After ENCOM discovers this permanence code, Ares is sent to steal the code, leading him on a two-hour-long journey of self-discovery.
For the first act of the film, Ares plays the role of the villain to the secondary protagonist and ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee). After discovering more about Kim via some cyberstalking, Ares switches sides, deciding to aid her with the promise that she would provide him with the permanence code so he could live in the real world.
The first act does a good job of drawing the audience in, with a somewhat interesting premise and characters that have room for development. The visuals of the few scenes in The Grid are captivatingly beautiful, and the cyberpunk rock-style soundtrack, crafted by Nine Inch Nails, serves as a perfect backing to every scene.
Unfortunately, after the first act, the movie begins to show its cracks. The character that once had potential for growth quickly falls into bad stereotypes of the most basic tropes.
Kim, a character motivated by the death of her younger sister, is meant to act as the human connection that drives Ares to change. However, other than her grief for her sister, Kim has staggeringly little personality, and the little she did have failed to connect the audience to her.
Ares is a little better. Playing the role of a philosophical tech ninja with a random love for ‘80s British pop, he changes throughout the film, albeit without much reason. His desire to become human is vaguely implied to have started because Dillinger sees him as expendable, but the film moves so fast that it's not shown to an extent that his quick shift makes any logical sense.
The plot of the film also comes with its own slew of issues, namely its unoriginality. “Tron: Ares” manages to hit nearly every plot trope of movies about artificial intelligence, including, but not limited to: AI going rogue, AI having a Pinocchio complex and AI wreaking havoc on humanity. Although hitting common plot points is not necessarily a bad thing, the film hits them in a fashion that is irritatingly predictable.
“Tron: Ares” has an issue with ignoring previous installments of the franchise, especially “Tron: Legacy.” The first five minutes of “Ares” are used to explain why the main characters of “Legacy” are not going to appear in this film, and then proceed to act as if much of the film did not happen, going as far as to retcon the design of The Grid that appears in “Legacy.”
“Ares” faces one of its biggest issues by choosing to have 80% of the movie take place outside of The Grid. The stunning neon-lit cityscapes of The Grid serve as one of the most entrancing aspects of the “Tron” franchise. Spending most of the movie in the gray and beige real world takes away heavily from the visual spectacle the franchise has thrived on.
If one were to only look at the soundtrack and some of the visuals, “Tron: Ares” could be mistaken for a good movie. The lack of compelling characters, the formulaic plot and attachment to the real world drag the movie down to being mediocre at best.
2/5
