Reviews

The first two Tron films – 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy – took us inside a digital realm known as the Grid. The new instalment, Tron: Ares, flips that idea and imagines a scenario where the programs enter the real world.

The titular program, Ares (Jared Leto), works security for tech billionaire Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the grandson of David Warner’s Edward Dillinger from the original.

Ares and his second-in-command, Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), are essentially super soldiers in the real world, doing Julian’s dirty work. However, they have a fatal flaw – they can only exist on Earth for 29 minutes before they “de-res”.

To fix this problem, they need the “permanence code”. But unfortunately for them, their rival, ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee), has just found it and has her own plans for its use. Let the battle for the code begin!

All of the films in the Tron franchise have been criticised for prioritising style over substance and Tron: Ares is no exception. The story is weak but it looks and sounds awesome.

On the sound front, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – working under their band name Nine Inch Nails – have crafted a pulsing, bassy industrial score that livens up almost every scene. It is easily the best score of the year so far.

The visuals don’t disappoint either. Director Joachim Ronning makes the most of the current visual effects at his disposal (just like the previous films did) and it looks very cool, from the costumes to the gadgets and the lightcycles (Tron motorbikes), while he also honours the ’80s aesthetic of the original in a sequence that’ll please franchise fans.

Speaking of lightcycles, there is an excellent chase sequence that pays homage to lightcycle games on the grid in the previous two films. It loses a certain something being set in the real world but it’s still the best action sequence.

There are plenty of other action moments but these are often short bursts or edited so heavily that you can’t really follow what’s going on.

Leto may be the star of the film but his robotic, one-note performance makes it hard to root for him.

There are some attempts at humour as Ares starts to think for himself but these are infrequent and often feel awkward. Perhaps more consistency with the jokes would have worked better.

Thankfully, he has top support from the endearing, compassionate Lee, who is the heart of the film, as well as Peters as the evil tech genius and Turner-Smith as his menacing henchwoman.

Just like its predecessors, Tron: Ares works on a visual and sound level but the story is underdeveloped and underwhelming.

In cinemas from Friday 10th October.

By Hannah Wales.

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