Tron Ares review: Jared Leto struggles with an average screenplay, as Nine Inch Nails and VFX save the day.
Tron Ares Review
Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges
Director: Joachim Rønning
Rating: ★★★
There are moments in Tron Ares that threaten to give you a great time. These are largely involving bike chase sequences with splendid VFX, that Jeff Bridges cameo, and some solid chemistry between Jared Leto and Greta Lee. But the narrative remains weak. What worked for the first Tron was that it was a good story, independent of the visual spectacle that accompanied it. Tron Ares is reliant on the visuals and the score to elevate what is essentially a bang average film. Together, the garnishing makes it an immensely more watchable experience, but one that does feel less than the sum of its parts.
Tron Ares is set years after the events of the first two films, with both Encom and Dillinger Industries racing to find the Permanence Code, a programming code devised by Kevin Flynn that will allow digital objects to exist in the real world. Encom, led by Eve Kim (Greta Lee), wants to use the tech to solve real issues like world hunger and scarcity of resources. On the other hand, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) wants to use it for military technology. He sends his AI assassin Ares (Jared Leto) after Eve, but as Ares discovers the real world, this Pinocchio wants to be a real boy, and wants the code for himself (itself?).
NIN music doesn’t disappoint
Like its predecessor, Tron Legacy, the new film, too, emphasises the background score and visuals. That has always been the USP of the Tron franchise. Daft Punk gives way to Nine Inch Nails here, and the composers do not disappoint. The score underlines the film’s 2025 setting and makes even average segments come alive. There are certain scenes where the score is the only thing elevating the visual to anything beyond average.
The visual effects are top-notch as well, far removed from some of the lazy VFX we have seen in recent summer blockbusters from Hollywood. One particular throwback to the original Tron with visuals reminiscent of the 1980s is a particularly beautiful touch. When it is aided by Jeff Bridges’ charm, the nostalgia push is complete.
But nostalgia, visuals, and music alone can’t make a good movie. One needs to feel for the characters, or at least care about the stakes of the story. This is where Tron: Ares lacks. Ares’ ambition of being real and permanent in the real world needed to be much more relatable. Eve’s single-minded focus to make her late sister’s dream come true comes across as cheesy. And the finale seems underwhelming and repetitive after 2 hours of relentless action.
Tron: Ares wastes good talent
Tron: Ares wastes some pretty good actors like Gillian Anderson and Evan Peters, reducing them to token good guy and evil child tropes, giving little scope for performance. Even Jared Leto, for all his efforts, can barely rise above an average script. But Greta Lee does. She is the emotional anchor of the film despite being given a raw deal in terms of character growth. Quite surprisingly, despite the presence of big names, Arturo Castro gets the best lines and moments in the film, and the actor does well to sail through.
Tron: Ares is an experience best watched in theatres, probably on the biggest screen you can find. Because only that makes it enjoyable. It is a throwback to some entertaining and visually stunning yet emotionally hollow films that we have seen from Hollywood in the past. It thrills but you can put it out of your mind once you are done.
