Many years in the making, and there is a whole lot of CGI and AI to go around in Tron: Ares. Fifteen years after Tron: Legacy, this new edition is visually stunning, but the plot is just average.
This film was on and off the table for quite some time. In my opinion, the execution of Tron: Ares does not nail it and Tron: Legacy didn’t either. I may sound redundant, but all three of the films were released in different eras. Tron was released in 1982, Tron: Legacy was released in 2010, and this year we have Tron: Ares. The new featured character is played by Jared Leto as Ares. This time around, he is focused on as the hero.
Ares is programmed by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), a high-end tech owner who uses his AI company to gain power. However, things start to crumble. Eve Kim seeks to find hope for new beginnings and trace back to the days of Kevin Flynn, still played by Jeff Bridges.
Ares is programmed to be an enemy, but with his own brain, he comes to realize the shortcomings of the universe and the programming of his environment. The world is at risk of espionage due to AI and cloud storage issues which can override all kinds of systems. While Ares may appear to be a promising robot, he still has the brains to bring out his hero side.
I appreciate how the film lays out its foundation but then veers all over the place to build a good guy vs. bad guy scenario and create misdirection. The film also attempts to keep going above the AI world. I get this concept, especially since it is a “Tron” movie, but the development of the CGI and the technological worlds had me struggling in moments.
Fortunately, Leto kills it as Ares. He is a man of a few words but knows who he is fighting for. Together he and Kim are a combo for good and truth into the future. The era of technological advances swerves around in circles leading to a variety of interesting questions in Tron: Ares.
With the IMAX experience, I found the setting to be unique in this movie environment. The robotics and electronics dazzled brilliantly and were enhanced by the sound quality. The result allowed viewers to feel truly immersed despite the plot being less than stellar. There is a lot to be impressed by when it comes to the sound, the layout, and all the tunes in the film itself. Tron: Ares is spectacular in the visual sense due to its futuristic momentum. It is too bad that the writing is lacking in quality and includes transitions in the storyline that struggle to connect and captivate.
Overall, the film is an immersive continuation, but the quality and continuity are flawed. With luck, Leto is the successor of the futuristic drama in Tron: Ares. This movie is vivid, colorful and filled with AI grandeur, but could have been much better.
Two-and-a-half out of four stars.
