Though it touches on some intriguing ideas and has great production values, Tron: Ares lacks the focus to truly inspire.
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Whatever you want to say about Tron: Legacy, it's easy to see the how/why that movie got made. We're nearing peak eighties nostalgia, CGI is about as good as its ever been, so let's revisit one of our old properties that didn't hit at the time, but seemed very forward thinking. Give it all of the fun tools, get an unexpected but welcome choice for our composer with Daft Punk and bring back Jeff Bridges who is basically a movie folk hero at this point. Did ok at the box office when it was all said and done, and solidified director Joseph Kosinski as a guy who could direct big-budget spectacle. This time around...I don't know who was asking for this. The last movie didn't make enough of a cultural impact to justify it. Your star, Jared Leto, is both vibe and box office poison. And you got...Nine Inch Nails to do the soundtrack...ok that part is cool. And the results felt very predictable. A box office disappointment with middling reviews. But this a diamond in the rough, or more or less a retread of the last movie's innovations?
The Setup
Set in the modern day, the film follows two companies, ENCOM and Dillinger Systems, that are racing to do the impossible, bring digital constructs into reality...and keep them here. This puts both companies and their CEOs, the oft-putting Dillinger CEO Julian Dillinger and the more reserved ENCOM Eve Kim on a collision course as they search for the permanence code. A line of code that would allow programs and constructs to remain in our world. Believing Kim has said code, Dillinger sics Ares (Jared Leto) on ENCOM on Kim. But Ares might have ambitions of his own...
Reviewing this movie felt like a flashback to 2010 when Tron: Legacy came out because what I'd highlight and nit pick are almost identical. The soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails is better than the actual movie (Grade A banger), the visuals and action sequences are predominantly impressive...but the story is very generic and very boring.
But it does have subtle differences that make it unimpressive in its own ways. But before that let's get into what works.
Slick Action and Visuals
If nothing else Tron: Ares updates the palette of these movies a bit. While the last two Tron movies have feature heavy use of light neon blues with maybe some orange mixed in, the use of neon red is a welcome shift and looks really cool in the action sequences, that are predominantly set at night. Not only is this smart, since daytime CGI is always more dicey due to lighting, but it also provides some fun/novel twists on familiar action beats, both for the franchise and the genre in general. See a dueling light cycle battle that takes place through crowded city streets or a vision of what standard military hardware going against these light constructs could/would look like.
Also a giant fan of the acrobatic approach to fight scenes with some updates weapons that range from bow staffs and the signature throwing circle that's been modified into triangles, because we're edgy and red now.
There's a reason all of this was featured so prominently in the previews. Because this is the core appeal. Take Tron and put in the real world.
Another Fantastic Soundtrack
At this point Trent Reznor is putting out more soundtrack work that Nine Inch Nails work, so it's nice that he found a product that overlaps so well. I also think he's a perfect choice considering the movie's tone. Because Dillinger system is red and generally more aggressive/militarized, aiming for the deeper bass and propulsive energy that defines a lot of Nine Inch Nails best work, is a perfect fit for the film whether it's the action sequences or even the quick bits of research and character background the movie gets into.
The Problem: The Story
Tron: Ares really has the feeling of a story made by committee. Or perhaps a movie that never settled on a main theme to support it's main gimmick. So instead we've got a bunch all kinda haphazardly thrown together.
The film has a strong baseline to start. We've got a Elon Musk-esque coded CEO played by Evan Peters who is promising the use of constructs like Jared Leto's Ares to be sold to militaries around the world. But he's sold everyone a false bill of goods because these constructs can't last for more than 29 minutes (a deliciously arbitrary time period when you're literally a minute away from the standard 30). So of course he's going to misuse his technology to go after his rival and solve his problems. Unforeseen consequences or collateral damage be damned.
Really highlights how dangerous technology not treated with care can be.
So what is our hero doing. She's looking for the exact same thing that Peters CEO is...because she's the head of a different massive technology that's actually way better and empathetic you guys. And like her sister worked on this permanence code, so it's different, and not bad.
It almost feels like some kind of meta-commentary on the Disney acquisition of Fox. Like hey guys, you've got a good business daddy right now who's actually smart at stuff and won't misuse technology against you. Which stinks because I love that our hero team isn't made up of a bunch of white dudes, but instead features Greta Lee as Eve Kim, Hasan Minhaj as the company's new public face, and Arturo Castro as their second-in-command. Now imagine if they weren't public figures, but were instead some kind of anti-authoritarian hacker group trying specifically to outrun Dillinger before he can turn this tech against the world? Man that would be more satisfying and resonant.
It would also make the focus on Jared Leto's Ares work better too.
Ares is a very familiar sci-fi idea. He's a program that may or many not be achieving sentience and is beginning to question the goals/objectives he's being given. Which is...potentially very interesting since he's more or less immortal in the Tron world and his orders are always hostile. So a program rejecting his orders has the potential to be a great commentary on how bad men like Dillinger are. Just as his fellow program who carries out orders by any means, as directed, in horrifying ways, is a quality commentary on the inability to use technology responsibly.
But making it all about whether or not Ares could/should be human in spots feels like a distraction. Especially with how clunky the scenes are where he's basically trying to past a Turring Test via pop culture references. We've seen him defend innocent people and advocate for himself. I think he's sentient y'all.
It also feels like a distraction versus something thematically resonant or even in the territory of the good Data episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation. I really think the "program demonstrates more humanity than humans" is a stronger, more incisive take, that seems to only exist for added tension in action beats.
Another wild thing is that the "permanence code" is never treated like the world-changing idea that it is. In fact, it's mostly treated as a natural evolution from "The Grid" that's good when it's held by a responsible company vs. a bad one that might sell to arm's dealers and the military.
Basically the movie hops around ideas so fast and with so little focus that none of them have a chance to land.
The Verdict: Bad in A Familiar Way
Though it touches on some intriguing ideas and has great production values, Tron: Ares lacks the focus to truly inspire. 5/10
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