Tron: Ares is the third film of the franchise and it steps away from the Flynn family who were a main presence in the first two films, Tron and Tron: Legacy. While the story has cliched science-fiction moments as yet another being, Ares (Jared Leto), wants to become more human, like an A.I. Version of Pinocchio, the main selling point is the stunning visuals, especially when paired with the intense score by Nine Inch Nails. (In the interest of full disclosure, the movie being the cause of new NIN music favorably skews my opinion.) I expect Tron: Ares will receive nominations from bodies who give out technical awards.
Buy Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)In Tron, it was established that computer programs inside the Grid appear as humans. In Ares, the programs retain their human appearance when brought into the real world by Dillinger Systems, whose current CEO Julian (Evan Peters) is the grandson of Ed Dillinger from the original movie. Julian wants to sell the programs as fighters. One catch is the programs can only exist in this world for 29 minutes. Another catch is Ares begins to grow sentient, mystified by rain and eventually questioning Julian’s orders. It’s been determined a permanence code created by Kevin Flynn will fix the time constraint somehow.
Also on the lookout for the permanence code is Encom CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee), which for some reason recreates Kevin’s old office within their office. She updated Kevin’s Space Paranoids game for the modern age and saved the company. She also wants to bring digital assets from the Grid to the real world, but to do so for good.
Being villainous, Julian sends the programs after Eve, and after a few action sequences, including a Speeder Bike chase through a real-world city, he sends her into the Grid. Ares helps her get out, but Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) takes over, sentience not yet affecting her so she’s willing to follow Julian’s orders without question.
Ares is sent into the original version of the Grid to seek the permanence code, and fans of the first movie will dig the visual recreation of that world. In the Grid 1.0, Ares encounters a program resembling Kevin (Jeff Bridges, who plays the character more like the Dude from The Big Lebowski than Kevin from either Tron movie). They talk some philosophy, which affects Ares, as does the code, and he returns as something different.
Viewed in 3D Dolby Cinema, Tron: Ares‘s audio-visual presentation is so impressive it makes it worth experiencing in that format. However, the writing never digs beyond the surface of its characters or of its ideals about technology and humanity so the story doesn’t offer anything to connect the viewer to the film beyond nostalgia.
