It’s pretty.
The lasting legacy & impact of Tron: Ares may one day (hopefully) be limited to efforts of a stellar visual effects team. The film’s special effects are gloriously captured, and all those responsible for that, from the VFX artists to the production design and other essential filmmakers, should see the career boost that a film that looks like this warrants. As for the rest of the movie, most notably the screenplay and performances, the movie is much more of a mess. Ares is a dull film, with very little nutritional value on its mind, and an unenthusiastic story following a predictable but uninspiring plot. Jared Leto stars as the titular Ares, a computer program developed by Dillinger Systems, now a competitor and rival to the series’ mainstay technological conglomerate ENCOM.
Dillinger Systems CEO Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) is hands-on with Ares’ development. The former develops something of a monstrous computer program, replete with a loud demonic voice used to intimidate and indoctrinate Ares to Julian’s liking. The purpose of Ares’ existence is an in-development military program that promises to be a boon to Dillinger Systems. But the obstacle in the road is the fact that these computer programs turned would-be soldiers can only exist in the real world for up to half an hour, before dissolving and returning to the internal grid. Julian believes that the fabled Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the original protagonist of Tron (1982), kept a hidden code that may allow Julian to hack his system’s flaw, thus providing his soldiers with limitless time on earth. However, underneath this corporate chaos, Ares’ experiences in the real world begin him on the path to desiring a life in this world. The artificial intelligence wants to become a real boy.
Leto, who has become something of an internet punching bag (a predicament of his own making), is not terrible here as a performer. In fact, there are nuances to his character’s arc that would be fully captured in a better film – picture a director’s cut, for example, adding crucial scenes left on the cutting room floor that would deepen the character development. However, with the finished product as it currently exists, this is still a relatively weak character & performance when we’re talking main protagonists of a major feature film. The arc is so basic and derivative of previous “machine begins to form human thoughts” archetypes. The presentation of the character is that of a stilted, robotic personality. That makes sense for the character’s origin, but it never grows much beyond that, the movie is unable to add a unique empathy to the character’s evolution in showing genuine human emotion. Instead, it seems like a somewhat low-effort role where Leto gets by on a gruff, stiff, slightly raspy voice, reminiscent of his bizarre turn in Morbius (2022).
The other characters don’t fare much better. Peter’s Julian lacks dimension, a lackluster villain motivated by the initial intriguing premise of attempting to live up to and surpass his family’s legacy. But said family drama goes nowhere worthwhile, including a pretty forgettable performance from Gillian Anderson. The social engineering that Julian enacts on Ares has the potential to be illuminating psychologically, but the film is unable to delve into these concepts beyond surface-level situations. It’s merely the setup to eventually get Ares on the side of good, but the movie isn’t very curious of its own nature vs nurture predicament. Ares’ partner in crime, Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), could be viewed as the secondary antagonist, but she’s a mere plot device for the film’s chase scenes as she does Julian’s bidding.
Greta Lee is also wasted here, a crucial flaw given how her character’s relationship to Ares is critical to the narrative. Their bond gets by on the actors trying their best with the material, but the relationship is banal and unfulfilling. Probably the most interesting interaction between two actors in the movie is when Ares happens to meet a projection of Kevin Flynn’s persona. Bridges expertly conveys his fascination with the idea of a computer program wishing to live, his performance being an example of emphasizing this concept in ways that the rest of the screenplay fails to do. As if he sees something in the story that not even the filmmakers share. But, alas, his screentime is limited.
The film’s narrative is just shallow across the board, relying on an outline of an interesting premise that doesn’t require much introspection. The movie’s attention and motives seem less focused on in-depth storytelling, and more towards a deliberately sanitized depiction of artificial intelligence. The technology is heavily polarizing, but Tron: Ares flattens these nuances, and avoids the lingering questions the technology raises by structuring its narrative as a modern retelling of Pinocchio. Just like The Creator (2023), another film aiming to launder the reputation of artificial intelligence, it deliberately misses the point. For the public, it’s not about empathizing with the technology, as if said tech can be personified and seen through the lens of the human condition, but instead about concerns for how people will utilize such a powerful and world-altering tool. Ares isn’t interested in those questions at all, predictably, as Disney has crafted a movie that essentially acts as PR for the tech by giving it a hero’s journey.
What remains is a movie whose greatest strength is appealing to your senses with an array of stimulation. Beyond the adeptly crafted special effects, the sound design is overwhelming, and Nine Inch Nails delivers a strong soundtrack. The computer programs move and ride their Light Cycles with such speed, coordination, and grace. Their traversing of ordinary cities looks like concept footage of sensational digital craft. There’s even a throwback portion of the film, where Ares reaches a part of the grid reminiscent of the design in the original Tron. And it’s not just a brief visual reference, but an extended stay that’s one of the best sections of the movie.
If this were just an exhibit at a museum, it would be one of the best features of the year. But with film being a narrative-driven medium, it falls way short. The movie plays well on large screens and home entertainment systems as just visual fireworks, but I don’t believe any of these characters or story beats will stick to the top of one’s mind once the credits roll. It’s often said that the Tron films are better conceptually than they are in execution. If we are to believe that, then Ares takes that idea even further to become the most cynical franchise entry yet. All while a deafening rock concert serenades the film – although, there doesn’t seem to be much to celebrate.
