Movie Review: "TRON: Ares" Pushes Into the Real World but Can’t Quite Find Its Soul

After fifteen years offline, Disney’s TRON franchise reboots once more with TRON: Ares, directed by Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil). The result is an ambitious, glossy, and occasionally moving film that asks what it means to be human in an age of artificial intelligence, but doesn’t always remember to have fun getting there.

Rønning opens on familiar circuitry, zooming through a vintage Kevin Flynn interview into the Grid once more. News footage reveals that Sam Flynn has resigned, and the Kim sisters now lead ENCOM, while the Dillinger legacy continues through their ambitious heir, Julian (Evan Peters). Determined to secure his company’s dominance, Julian creates Ares (Jared Leto), a warlike program that obeys his every command, and develops technology capable of bringing digital creations into the real world — though each lasts only twenty-nine minutes before disintegrating. When Eve Kim (Greta Lee) uncovers Kevin Flynn’s elusive “Permanence Code," Julian sees it as the key to making his breakthrough permanent and sends Ares and his lieutenant Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) after her. A spectacular light-cycle chase ensues, hurling Eve into the digital world and an uneasy alliance that blurs the line between human and program.

Leto, a self-professed TRON super-fan, delivers a surprisingly restrained performance. His Ares begins as an elegant automaton and gradually absorbs warmth, humor, and heartbreak. Greta Lee anchors the film emotionally — her Eve’s grief over her late sister gives the story its rare sparks of humanity, though the character’s seriousness often mutes the film’s energy. Arturo Castro’s comic-relief sidekick, Seth, occasionally lightens the mood, but most of his quips feel like fragments from a longer cut where he likely had more time to shine. Peters leans into volatile tech-bro mania, while Gillian Anderson brings gravitas as Julian’s wary mother, Elisabeth Dillinger.

Visually, Ares dazzles without revolutionizing. Production designer Darren Gilford returns from Legacy, again bathing the film in neon geometry but swapping blue and gold for infernal reds inside the new Dillinger Grid. The practical light-cycle chases, shot overnight on real Vancouver streets, give the action heft and realism. Yet by moving much of the spectacle into recognizable cityscapes, Ares loses the mystery that once defined TRON. Recognizers hovering above skyscrapers inspire awe for a moment before tipping into absurdity.

Rønning and screenwriter Jesse Wigutow aim for a Pinocchio-meets-AI fable — a Program seeking personhood — and occasionally reach genuine poignancy. The sister storyline resonates, but the film’s broader message about empathy between humans and machines is more effectively conveyed through speeches than through behavior. Tonally, Ares is more solemn than it needs to be, drained of the playful techno-myth energy that made Legacy exhilarating.

Nine Inch Nails’ score fulfills its promise as a bridge between analog angst and digital precision. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross replace Daft Punk’s sleek pulse with distorted synth growls, giving Ares a grimy edge. In IMAX, the mix roars so thunderously that viewers’ Apple Watches might indeed issue hearing-safety alerts, but the music’s industrial heartbeat suits the film’s hybrid world.

Shot in 8K large-format with Jeff Cronenweth (Fight Club) behind the camera, the film expands aspect ratios whenever the Grid or its elements breach reality. The crispness of the light-cycle sequence and the tactile glow of the suits, engineered by Wētā Workshop with embedded LED panels, are undeniable achievements. Still, the imagery, while stunning, feels like refinement rather than innovation.

TRON: Ares talks at length about legacy but struggles to define its own. Its cameos (a brief, heartfelt Jeff Bridges moment) nod respectfully to the past without meaningfully advancing it. As the credits roll, you’re left admiring the ambition more than the execution. For fans, it’s a modest thrill to return to the Grid; for newcomers, a visually loud curiosity about the future of AI; for Disney, an expensive proof-of-concept for where the franchise might evolve next. Although I suspect history will repeat itself, leaving fans waiting another decade or so.

I give TRON: Ares 2 out of 5 identity discs.

TRON: Ares opens Friday, October 10th, exclusively on a big screen near you.