Sure, Tron: Ares Isn't The Best Movie Of The Year, But You Should Still See It In Theaters For One Specific Scene

The reviews for Tron: Ares are coming in after it hit the 2025 movie schedule this weekend, and, like CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg, who gave it a 2.5-star review, I also found the plot a little simplistic and the dialogue somewhat cringy. However, none of that really matters. All of the Tron movies have two things in common: they all look amazing (at least for their era), and they all have spectacular scores.

Following in the footsteps of Wendy Carlos in the original Tron and Daft Punk in Tron: Legacy, Nine Inch Nails deliver on the music front in a big way for Tron: Ares. Both the music and visuals are at their best in a particular scene that I’ll try to describe here without spoiling anything (there are some very light spoilers), because everyone should go see this spectacle in an IMAX theater, or at least a big screen, to get the full effect.

Tron: Ares Looks Amazing, And It Sounds Even Better

As you may know from the Tron: Ares trailer, the movie takes place both “in The Grid” like the previous movies, and in the real world, as Programs come into our world for the first time. There's a scene in The Grid that really gripped me, though. In the scene, two characters are escaping from the villain’s digital drones by skipping across a digital ocean on what I can only describe as a “Light Jet Ski.” A light bike on “water,” that is.

As they dodge the drones, the pulsating soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (billed as Nine Inch Nails for the first time on a soundtrack) was literally rattling my chair, even though this wasn’t even a 4DX theater. It’s an incredible moment that, when I watch the movie again with my Disney+ subscription once it comes to streaming, it won’t have nearly the same impact. Seriously, the scene is worth the price of admission.

Great Films Keep Me Thinking For Days

I’m always a little reluctant to give my full opinion on a movie too quickly after I see it. That’s because my favorite films are always the ones that have me still thinking about them, days later. Sometimes I don’t even know how much I loved a film until after I’ve realized that I’ve been contemplating it for several days. That’s why I’d still put Sinners and Warfare at the top of my own personal “Top Films of 2025” list at the moment.

Tron: Ares isn’t going to be like those. I know that much already. However, a day later, and I am still thinking about that scene of the Light Ski and the pounding, incredible music. The movie probably won’t be on my favorites list at the end of the year, but this scene may end up my favorite single moment of the year. It’s that good.