Tron: Ares Review: Radically Empty Spectacle... But At Least It's Very Pretty

Speaking as a Tron fan, I can honestly say that I never expected to ever see another Tron movie. In the ramp-up to the release of Tron: Legacy back in 2010, I can distinctly remember getting the impression that Walt Disney Studios felt some light embarrassment about the 1982 original, with distinct hope that the franchise would earn some cool points with a shiny, modern sequel. However, then said sequel ended up leaving theaters with the reputation of being somewhat of a boondoggle, with solid earnings at the worldwide box office colored by the film’s major budget and heaps of criticism about the attempt to digitally de-age star Jeff Bridges.

My expectations for more big screen action from the Tron franchise was graded “pessimistic” for nearly a decade and a half – but being someone who has long been charmed by the original and impressed by the eye-popping style and action of Legacy, that isn’t how I would describe my ultimate anticipation for director Joachim Rønning’s Tron: Ares. As long as public information about the project has existed, I have hoped that it would be another exciting adventure taking characters in and out of the wild, biodigital jazz-filled world of The Grid. (And its certainly the case that technology has only become a more significant part of all our lives in the last 15 years, creating plenty of opportunity for commentary about the modern world.)

I never expected Tron 3, so I was happy when news came out that it was happening. Now what I’m left with is the irksome feeling of simple mild disappointment. 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.

Deciding to not really bother with any of the consequences from the plot of Tron: Legacy, Tron: Ares reintroduces us to the canon as a significant race plays out between two of the world’s major forces in tech. Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the CEO of ENCOM, and Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the head of Dillinger Systems, have both seen the development of technologies that allow coded creations from The Grid to be brought into real life, but there is a strict limitation: creations only last for 29 minutes before disintegration.

Eve wants to use the technology for advances in health and food production, while Julian is laser focused on military applications – but both require the magical Permanence Code in order to make their dreams a reality. Eve is the first to find it, discovering it buried by the long-missing Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), but when Julian gets wind of the discovery, he activates his advanced security program Ares (Jared Leto) to locate and steal it.

Fitting the traditions of the franchise, Tron: Ares is a visual stunner with a score that ends up being the best thing about the movie.

If you’re on the hunt for detailed and smart worldbuilding paired with compelling and insightful storytelling, Tron: Ares is a cinematic experience that is very much going to leave you wanting. But if what you’re seeking is more akin to a choreographed laser light show at a planetarium, you will be effectively dazzled.

Between motor/lightcycles, tanks, jets, drones, boats and more, not to mention hand-to-hand combat, Joachim Rønning makes what feels like a concentrated effort to check all of the action boxes, and there is rarely a long lull between set pieces. Tight, dynamic cinematography with plenty of actor close-ups keeps us rooted in the perspective of the character, making chases and fights feel all the more intense and emotional. Exceptional visual effects blend the digital and practical better than any previous film in this franchise.

Of course, a laser light show isn’t complete without a proper soundtrack that you can feel deep in your guts, and that’s where the genius of Nine Inch Nails comes in. Even with the extreme, Oscar-winning pedigree of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, there were big shoes to fill in the music department with Tron: Ares, as I say with zero hesitation that Daft Punk’s scoring of Tron: Legacy constitutes the best aspect of the 2010 blockbuster. But those are shoes brilliantly filled and NIN’s work, which earns the same superlative in the context of the 2025 film. The deep-drilling beats and intense synth sounds successfully makes everything more compelling in the moment, and the power of it remains even as you digest the underwhelming story.

The story Tron: Ares chooses to tell is insultingly basic.

Given all of the tension in our world regarding the extreme impact that tech and tech companies have, I had anticipated that Tron: Ares would be a movie that, at the very least, recognized the zeitgeist and have something even modestly interesting to say. That proved to be a foolish thought, as this is a film with no stance to take or comment to make. There is exactly zero nuance in the plotting, which you likely sussed out from my description of the protagonist and antagonist motives. (I’ll mention that Gillian Anderson plays Julian’s mother, who exists in the story to scold her son about his amoral behavior going after Eve, but her impact amounts to simply reminding the audience that what Julian is doing is wrong.)

Between the one-dimensional storytelling and rote use of a basic plot device on which everything hinges, Jesse Wigutow’s screenplay is never able to properly establish any stakes or interesting dynamics. Even with comedic talents in the cast like Arturo Castro (playing Eve’s friend/colleague) and Hasan Minhaj (as ENCOM’s CTO), the whole film is additionally humorless, and little progress is made in creating emotional relationships between the characters.

Jared Leto puts in a clunker of a performance playing a very vital role.

This is particularly damaging to the film where Ares’ arc is concerned. The character is designed by Julian Dillinger and introduced as the ultimate expendable soldier… but he goes against his programming as soon as he registers a single person that doesn’t see him as disposable, and he begins to seek being something more than code in the real world.

Putting aside that Jared Leto’s look, with long hair and a beard, is wholly ill-fitting for the part, the actor simply doesn’t deliver what Ares needs to express in any given scene – be it repressed awe at seeing real rain for the first time, or later his inability to put into words what he feels when listening to the music of Depeche Mode. The emotional journey the plot demands is not offered in Leto’s performance, and it’s a major problem that bigly holds the movie back.

With the history of Tron including groundbreaking visual effects and standout franchise development (there is a strong argument to be made that Tron: Legacy kickstarted the modern age of legacyquels), Tron: Ares is a movie that feels like it could have been much “more” but settles for being less. Its disinterest in making any kind of statement or expressing any kind of opinion makes it feel like its cultural impact won’t go beyond the spectacle that it presents on the big screen – though I suppose I certainly can be thankful that we got a new Nine Inch Nails album out of it.