“I am fearless, and therefore powerful,” a Tron Ares review

By T Canchola

Tron: a beloved neo-punk franchise, and a nostalgia packed arcade game from the 80’s. It’s characterized by 3 movies (Tron (1982), Tron: Legacy & Tron: Ares), a short lived animated series (Tron: Uprising), and a handful of niche games. Most recently, Tron: Ares entered the scene as the start of a new era in the franchise.

Tron: Ares, which changes the standard storyline of the previous two films, follows the AI program named Ares (Jared Leto), A.K.A “Master Control,” as he is brought into the real world. He realizes his place in the Grid and on Earth is much bigger than he was originally programmed to be. He learns what it means to be human, and assists Eve Kim (Greta Lee) in protecting a code made by Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) that will change the world.

Let’s not sugarcoat it. The writing for Tron: Ares felt like they dropped a paper copy of their actual screenplay into the ocean and then used the waterlogged version as their finished product. It was clunky and personally, I felt it had pacing problems. The acting was…alright, to be nice about it. Although the actors didn’t do a terrible job, it still felt forced in the emotional bits of the movie and where its writing aimed to bring the audience to tears, the heartfelt goodbyes fell flat.

However, the one time the emotion came through just happened to be in direct quotation to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, borrowing the line: “I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” That in itself was enough to convey the message that they struggled the rest of the movie to illustrate.

With all the negative things aside, I’d be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, despite all its flaws. The visuals were stunning. The neon reds and blues against pitch black backgrounds kept my attention for its entire run. I appreciated the way they executed the light walls and incorporated them into the action sequences.

Official promotion poster depicting its main character and the infamous light cycles.

Speaking of action sequences, that was another thing that caught my eye. The choreography was surprisingly interesting. Near the beginning of the movie as Ares and his fellow programs fight to break into Eve Kim’s files, they battle against defender programs with choreography and visuals that captured my attention the whole way through and served as an inciting incident that actually made sense. Although, there was a small discrepancy with this specific scene (as in, how does a program become an amputee???) but I won’t complain too much.

Accompanying the pleasing visuals is a soundtrack that -not to be dramatic- blows me away. Produced by the popular 90’s band Nine Inch Nails, the song made for the film “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” was a perfect successor to the Tron Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk. It was experimental, it was loud and truly immersed you in the universe itself.

In my honest opinion, I don't think the film deserved all the hate it got. It was interesting enough that I took the time to watch the other movies. That being said, it was a good movie, not a great one. The casting could have been better (especially regarding Jared Leto) and so could the writing. I think anybody who already has a love for the franchise will enjoy it, regardless of its shortcomings. 6/10.