By Rory Archer
A landscape version of one of the Tron: Ares posters, featuring the titular character of Ares. Credit: Walt Disney Studios.
Background
“Tron” is a defining movie in the sci-fi genre. Released by Disney in 1982, it follows programmer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who is digitized and copied into the computer realm, where he must fight for his life with help from his friend’s security program, Tron (Bruce Boxleitner).
It was one of the first movies to feature mostly computer-generated imagery, and was even disqualified from the Academy Awards because the amount of special effects was seen as ‘cheating.’ Regardless, the movie had a successful line of games in the following years, and a sequel in 2010: “Tron: Legacy,” which continued its trend of groundbreaking special effects and unorthodox, electronic scoring.
There was an additional cartoon series shortly after, “Tron: Uprising,” before Disney began moving away from the “Tron” IP in the 2010s. However, after nearly 15 years of development challenges, actor Jared Leto funded and co-produced the third movie installment in the “Tron” franchise, working with director Joachim Rønning (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”) and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, members of the band Nine Inch Nails.
The movie follows Ares (Leto), a military AI developed by Dillinger Systems, who is tasked with finding a piece of code that grants 3D-printed programs the ability to exist in the real world for longer than half an hour without breaking down. Ares and his second-in-command, Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), take orders from Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the hotheaded CEO and grandson of the 1982 movie’s antagonist, and are ordered to hunt down ENCOM’s current CEO, Eve Kim (Greta Lee), who discovered the so-called “Permanence Code.”
The Harkins Theater at the Arizona Mills mall in Phoenix had an advanced screening of the latest “Tron” installment on Oct. 6, as a double feature with “Tron: Legacy,” complete with exclusive enamel pins.
The specialty enamel pins given out at the IMAX double features of “Tron: Legacy” and “Tron: Ares” across the country. Photo by Rory Archer.
Standing outside the IMAX entrance, a man wore a “FLYNN LIVES” shirt and specialty “Tron” shoes adorned with digital motorcycles, called lightcycles.
“I saw the original when I was like 10 years old,” said Calvin. “I watched ‘Uprising.’ I’ve played the games. I’ve been a ‘Tron’ fan forever. I’m going in with no expectations. I’m more excited to just see ‘Legacy’ again on the screen.”
Calvin and his nephew, Jackson, wearing “FLYNN LIVES” shirts, referencing the promotional ARG for “Tron: Legacy.” Photo by Rory Archer.
Other moviegoers had more cynical takes, with many citing concerns about the leading actor, Leto, and fears of a “mediocre” performance.
“It doesn’t know whether it wants to connect to other ‘Tron’ movies or be standalone, so it’s kind of stuck in between,” said Brendan, another fan whose group of friends attended the showing.
His friend Kevin chimed in, “I love ‘Tron,’ but I think it’s going to be really disappointing. The whole point about ‘Tron’ is you’re going into the computer. The first one’s about philosophy and religion. The second one’s about families and fathers. And this one is like, ‘Tron’ is in the real world now. And I’m like, that doesn’t seem very compelling to me, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
“I am worried Disney might abandon ‘Tron’ if this doesn’t do well,” said another moviegoer named Daniel. “I would say my biggest thing I’m most a fan of in this franchise would be ‘Uprising.’ I’m just worried we might never get a continuation of that world.”
Despite some concern over the preservation of the “Tron” universe, groups of fans could be heard shouting “Tron lives!” from outside of the theater.
Ethan, a fan since attending “Legacy” promotional events when he was seven, drove from Flagstaff for the double-feature in Phoenix.
When asked what his favorite movie from the franchise was, he said with a laugh, “I mean, come on, it’s ‘Legacy.’”
Despite some disdain for Leto playing Ares, many audience members were excited about the other actors in the film.
“[The earrings I’m wearing] are of Evan Peters. He plays the villain in the movie,” said moviegoer Arden.
Fan Impressions at the Showing
The crowd remained respectably silent as “Legacy” began. The sound of Daft Punk’s synths hummed an energy into the seats as the movie opened with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of the now-missing Kevin Flynn, weaving through traffic, his motorcycle highlighted in 3D against the warm, yet dull colors of the city.
Ethan’s homemade costume, complete with an identity disc prop from Walt Disney World. Photo by Rory Archer.
Through fight scenes, characters’ identity discs bounced off walls and, through 3D glasses, felt like they were going to soar through the theater. The crowd became more lively through the movie and clapped as it ended, letting out sighs and ‘awws’ at the prospect of waiting through an intermission for “Ares.”
Rinzler (Anis Cheurfa) skidding to a halt on his lightcycle. Credit: Walt Disney Studios.
As for “Ares,” it too was enhanced by the immense sound and nearly 100-foot screen, paving the way for exactly 120 minutes of action-packed stakes, bright colors, bassy music, and a variety of easter eggs—taking full advantage of the IMAX theater setup.
Fan response following the movie was moderate.
“Definitely not on the same level as ‘Legacy,’ but I like what they did, doing all the callbacks and Easter eggs to the original ‘Tron,’” said Johnathan, another member of the double-feature viewing.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) sitting beside ISO program Quorra (Olivia Wilde) as they look out at the Grid’s exit portal. Credit: Walt Disney Studios.
“So close to being good…” said Becca.
“I liked it overall. I saw that Jared Leto produced the movie, and I think it’s like when The Rock produces his own movies. The movie was designed to make Jared Leto look cool,” said Becca’s friend, Christian.
Online reviews were overall critical—as of opening weekend, “Ares” earned a less-than-anticipated $33.5 million domestically, despite topping the box office; it sports a 2.8 out of 5 on Letterboxd, a 49/100 on Metascore, and 57/100 from Rotten Tomatoes critics. Audience reviews from the IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes websites were slightly more positive, with ratings of 6.7/10 and 86/100, respectively.
Personal Review
Spoilers for “Tron: Ares” are ahead.
I found myself split on the movie; it was fast-paced, and I was surprised that two whole hours had passed by the movie’s end. I enjoyed the beauty of it, some of my favorite sequences being the lightstaff fights led by Athena.
Scenes would range from well-acted and heartbreaking—such as Ares’ watching video clips of Tess Kim’s (Selene Yun) birthday, as her sister Eve tries not to cry while singing to her—to cliche and stale, especially in moments where background characters give unsolicited comedic acts, or characters make overdramatic statements.
It’s hard to take a moment seriously when characters begin launching into overly-scripted, expositional dialogue or jokes, especially prevalent in the first act, when Ares infiltrates ENCOM, or Eve and Seth (Arturo Castro) investigate Tess’s workshop. I think Julian Dillinger threatened to fall into the latter category with his over-the-top behavior, but it worked for his character: a sadistic man who thinks he is God. Of course, a hubristic prodigy like him would take enjoyment in torturing his sentient programs and never consider the chances of their deviancy.
Athena’s Red Guard twirling their lightstaffs as they approach Ares. Credit: Walt Disney Studios.
Ares was an enjoyable enough character, even if most of his character development seemed to have occurred sometime in the first 10 minutes, completely offscreen. Eve was also enjoyable at times, especially during her initial escape attempt from Ares and Athena. I mostly found myself marveling at Jodie Turner-Smith’s portrayal of Athena. She parallels Clu 2.0, the antagonist from the second movie, chasing the directive given to her by any means necessary, even if it means destroying everything in her way or disobeying the same people who gave her the orders. She’s driven by an anger that others don’t understand her goals, and in the end, can’t understand that she has the capability to act outside of her programming.
The fan callbacks worked well, too, not overstaying their welcome. The movie parallels “Legacy” in many ways, yet fails to follow up on any of its events. What happened to Sam Flynn and Quorra after they escaped the Grid? How is Kevin Flynn still alive? Where is the titular character of the franchise, Tron? I can’t help but miss the abandoned plotlines in “Legacy” and “Uprising.”
Ultimately, my biggest problem with “Ares” is that there isn’t enough time for characters to breathe.
Every moment is crammed with action, every character rushing to the next moment, a literal timer hanging over Ares and Athena’s heads. There are only a handful of moments when characters show a bit of personality, not driven entirely by plot-fueled adrenaline. The scene that sticks out to me most was Ares and Eve driving, discussing music and the things they love. It’s a short scene, but it shows who these people are outside of this conflict and hints at the dimension that would’ve been lovely to see throughout the entire movie. I can tell it’s there; otherwise, we wouldn’t have gotten scenes of Eve’s fixation on death or Ares’ enjoyment of the analog world. But it feels as if one blinks, they’ll miss these short moments that define characters more than any action sequence could.
Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is cornered by Ares (Jared Leto) on a pier after a motorcycle chase. Credit: Walt Disney Studios.
That’s not to say this movie is a wash—it’s fast-paced, action-filled, and visually stunning, and well-versed in its sci-fi inspirations. But its themes and subtext are lacking: there could be a statement on the meaning of life and the anxiety of death. There could be a statement on the increasing AI presence in our world. But there’s not; the movie is severely diluted by its numerous action sequences, and I can’t help but want more of everything we didn’t get.
I can tell there is a world beyond what we see in “Tron: Ares,” a world that shapes and influences the characters on screen, but viewers are left looking through a keyhole, unable to see what should be there.
“Tron: Ares” is now playing in theaters.