Every now and then, a film shows up that leaves a mark, shaping how you see the world, maybe even who you become. For me, as a visual artist, that film was Tron: Legacy, among others.
Movies like Terminator 2, Dark City, The Matrix, 300, and of course, Tron: Legacy presented scenes that made me wonder how they were able to pull them off, even after watching the behind-the-scenes commentary.
The visuals, the colour, the sound, it wasn’t just cool, it was art in motion. Tron: Legacy came out at the perfect time for me. I was in the early days of my visual arts journey, and it’s the only movie that made me want to create cool designs.
So, yes, Tron is personal. I’ve been waiting over a decade for a new one, hoping Disney would finally take the risk, build on what Legacy started, and maybe even ask deeper questions.
Instead, Tron: Ares ended up being a painful reminder that good visuals can’t save mediocre writing sprinkled with a lot of generic modern trends.
I walked into the theatre excited. I walked out deflated and, honestly, a bit sad.
Tron: Ares
Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, and Gillian Anderson, with Jeff Bridges returning briefly as Kevin Flynn.
On paper, it’s a very promising setup. We get programmes sent from the Grid into the real world to accomplish a mission, a great chance to explore what happens when technology crosses that line between simulation and existence. Something that was promised at the end of Tron: Legacy.
We’ve learned nothing from the last 50 years of sci-fi movies. The writing is flat, the plot convoluted. The dialogue feels like filler; it’s terrible. You keep waiting for it to say or do something new, but it never does. It’s the kind of film that mistakes looking smart for being smart, almost like something written by, wait for it, AI.
And that’s the most frustrating thing about this film. Because this franchise used to be creatively daring.
The first Tron in 1982 was groundbreaking visually. Legacy in 2010 was bold, stylish, and surprisingly emotional. Ares just feels safe.
Polished, yes, but safe. Disney took a legacy IP, ran it through their modern filter, and stripped out the uniqueness and progressiveness that made Tron special.
Some positives
Here’s what I’ll give it: Ares looks and sounds incredible. The lighting, the red, blue and orange tones at night, the digital textures when programs are derezed (destroyed), it’s everything you’d expect from a Tron movie on a technical level.
There are some very impressive light-cycle chases, and the opening sequence, for a moment, captures that old magic and brings newcomers up to speed. The music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross adds grit and mood, almost matching what Daft Punk did with Tron: Legacy.
There are flashes of something that could have been great. But they never last.
Jared Leto’s Ares is a strange choice. He’s supposed to be this program-turned-being trying to understand humanity, but he feels robotic, which contradicts what’s been set up by the franchise.
Programmes have personalities. Still, I enjoyed his performance; he was easily the most interesting character, but given very little to work with. Greta Lee brings heart where she can, and Jeff Bridges’ cameo is a nice touch, but nothing connects.
The issue is the bloated script, too much exposition, and half-baked dialogue, though it’s somewhat manageable thanks to the direction, action set pieces, pacing, and editing.
At times, it even forgets it’s a Tron movie. There’s so much that feels generic, like those terrible high-budget straight-to-streaming sci-fi films that just happen to have light cycles in it. It’s missing that pulse, that sense of wonder the franchise used to have.
Oversimplified
And maybe this is where my disappointment really comes from. Tron has always been about creation, about humans making something so advanced that it begins to mirror them. It’s about identity, curiosity, and the idea of digital life finding meaning.
Ares should’ve been the perfect sci-fi film for this generation, especially with all the conversations around AI and consciousness. Instead, it goes for the most basic Hollywood sci-fi formula we’ve seen over and over again. Basically, oversimplification killed this movie.
Another thing that stood out, and not in a good way, is how much this movie feels like it’s trying to please everyone. Disney plays it so safe that it becomes bland.
The attempts at representation feel forced, not because diversity is a problem (it’s needed), but because it’s done without any real storytelling purpose.
It feels performative, like a studio note rather than a creative choice, where the push for race and gender sits at the forefront rather than story and plot. Basically, this is hardly a Flynn story anymore; it’s just random diverse characters we’re suddenly supposed to care about. And maybe that’s the word for this film: performative.
Every part of it feels like an imitation, the design, the dialogue, the emotion. It’s trying to remind you of Tron: Legacy without understanding why that film worked.
It’s frustrating because you can see the potential bleeding through. You can tell there was a version of this film that might’ve worked if they’d just stuck to what was set up by the second movie, one that trusted its audience. But somewhere along the line, it got watered down.
Tron without Tron
And how is this a Tron without Tron? Yes, I understand the events of Legacy, but they should have found a way to bring him back. I mean, what is the point of calling it Tron without the character?
Leaving the theatre, and even now, I couldn’t stop thinking about Legacy.
That film wasn’t perfect, but it was streamlined. It was ahead of its time both visually and thematically. It was about connection, creation, and the idea that even inside a computer, there is complex, vibrant life. Ares only touches on that, then redirects us to lesser intriguing, poorly written real-life characters.
As a Tron fan, I wanted something that built on what made me fall in love with the series in the first place: imagination, risk, sci-fi beauty that bleeds cool, and a sense of awe. But what I got was a waste of money on a ticket, and this is coming from a person who believes in visual flair over substance in film.
Go watch it
If you’ve never heard of Tron and just want a decent dose of visual spectacle and action, then yes, there’s something to enjoy here, preferably on IMAX or any cinema with great audio and a massive screen.
I still think Tron can come back. But it needs creators who understand that visuals are only half the point. The soul is what made it matter.
