Of all the upcoming action movies on the 2025 movie calendar and beyond, Joachim Rønning’s Tron: Ares may be among the most highly anticipated, if only because it’s been 15 years since the third movie in the classic sci-fi series was announced. The wait is officially over, as it hit theaters on October 10, with Jared Leto leading an impressive cast as Ares, a computer program who travels out of the digital realm to complete an important mission in the real world.
Critics have seen this third installment — which also stars Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Jodie Turner-Smith, with Jeff Bridges reprising the role of Kevin Flynn — and they kind of can’t stop talking about Nine Inch Nails’ music. In CinemaBlend’s review of Tron: Ares, Eric Eisenberg was ultimately disappointed after looking forward to another exciting adventure in The Grid. He rates the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing:
Audiences are once again treated to a big screen spectacle, with stellar effects, a collection of cool action beats, sleek designs and a phenomenal score by Nine Inch Nails. But shiny aesthetics are muddied by a weak, McGuffin-driven story that is populated by rote characters, and Jared Leto stands out as being terrifically miscast in the movie’s subtitular role.
Kristy Puchko of Mashable notes that 43 years after the original Tron, the franchise doesn’t have anything intriguing to say about technology. However, she found herself enjoying the movie anyway, and the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack is enough to make this one a must-see on the big screen. Puchko says it’s “heavy-handed, dunderheaded, and over earnest, but also occasionally funny, charming, sexy, and thrilling.” She continues:
This movie boasts impossibly attractive stars like Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges. Plus, it's got a soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails that absolutely rocks. So, while Tron: Ares might have all the depth of a kiddie pool, it still bests Tron and the awful 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy. (I'm not over what CG de-aging did to Jeff Bridges.)
Clint Gage of IGN gives it a “Mediocre” 5 out of 10, saying the music alone bumped it up from a 4. Gage says the movie simultaneously forgets where it came from and somehow is still a paler version of the original. The critic says:
For a film in a franchise born from cutting-edge ideas and visuals, this third feature film chapter is a far cry from the cult classic’s ambitions from over 40 years ago. With little to offer outside of nostalgia and a banger of a Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, it wastes solid work from some of its leads on ideas the film should have been self-aware enough to avoid, and maybe misses the point of the franchise altogether. Tron: Ares is a concentrated effort to remember the original Tron, but in doing so all it does is make a hollow, albeit functional, facsimile of it in a corporate high rise.
Jim Batts of We Are Movie Geeks rates the upcoming sci-fi movie 2 out of 4, saying it’s obvious that a lot of creativity went into the film’s nifty gadgets, but it’s missing the human element or any sort of connection. Fans of the first two movies will likely still be satisfied, Batts says, writing:
Well, there’s no questioning the beauty and dazzling visuals that bring this update to neon-soaked life. Director Joachim Ronning keeps the camera moving in a million or so different directions to immerse us in this fantasy light show (that makes great use of the music from Nine Inch Nails). It’s a shame that a bit more time couldn’t have been used to bring greater depth to the plot and the principals.
David Rooney of THR admits Tron: Ares is not an instant classic, but the threequel honors its roots while advancing its story for a surprisingly entertaining popcorn movie. The critic says it also gets a “considerable shot of adrenaline” from Nine Inch Nails’ score. Rooney continues:
Just as their big-beat grooves kept the tennis balls, rivalry and sexual tension pinging in Challengers, the composers’ work here amps up the energy of Rønning’s already-visceral handle on the action, which benefits from stepping outside the grid into reality. The robust score and sound design also make the IMAX experience worth the extra outlay.
Critics may be unsure about most things in Tron: Ares other than the music — giving it 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience’s Popcornmeter is much more forgiving, scoring Jared Leto’s movie at 86%. If you’re a fan of the franchise or just want to see a fun sci-fi flick set to some amazing music, this movie is in theaters now.
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