‘Tron: Ares’ Can’t Survive Itself

I watched Tron: Legacy this summer for the first time, and as the credits rolled, I sat there wondering, “Is this my new favorite movie?” Yes, tied only with Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. A baffling pair at first, but upon closer inspection, both films tackle a core theme of using technology (home video tapes or a huge “digital frontier”) to reconnect with the lost and broken father. Both do it very well. This thematic resonance is one thing that draws me to the Tron franchise. Tron: Ares, the new sequel in the decades-spanning franchise, has the overarching themes on lock, from reflections on the breakneck speed of tech advancements, Frankensteinian AI defying its authority, and how, yes, empathy can change us. Unlike its predecessors, which allow their themes to be clear-cut and bold, Ares, full of beautiful imagery and exciting sounds, doesn’t fully follow through on all of its interesting ideas.

In Tron: Ares, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) is a tech wizard at war with Eve Kim (Greta Lee), a fellow CEO at the competing company ENCOM. They separately search for the “permanence code,” which will allow them to make digital objects physical, including AI people. Julian wants to make “permanent” powerful digital avatars he’s created, namely Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), so he can sell them into the military industrial complex. After Julian orders Ares to commit outright murder of a human, the AI program realizes he has aims of his own. Although without the code, he can only exist for a matter of minutes before dissolving into ash, he’ll try his luck by breaking ranks and exploring our world for answers.

Ares, an antagonist version of the original Tron character, rebelling against Edward Dillinger’s grandson, is a very cool thematic echo for the franchise, but Ares is weird, and not in a compelling way. Tron: Legacy viewers have often complained across the web that Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) was an underdeveloped protagonist. They are right. Sam, however, was someone likable, even in his blandness. In an attempt to make a funky, eccentric AI, the crafters of Ares make their eponymous hero uncomfortable and difficult to connect with. Leto waffles back and forth from fluidity to stiltedness, making it impossible to get a sense of what carriage he as a program embodies. The infusions of humor in his characterization are sudden, confusing, and disrupting. If he’s supposed to be changing through exposure to our real world, that trajectory is unclear. With a better script and a stronger actor, Ares could elevate to a worthwhile avatar of our anxieties around AI and fantasies that something good could come from a physically-realized digital being.

But the cast isn’t all lacking. I have to mention Julian, easily my favorite new character the film introduces. I was familiar with Evan Peters’ game, and he still astonished me at times, turning in a potent villain performance. Julian’s tattoos, which appear to be black digital code down his arms and peeking out above his shirt, look like the “black-veined” cinematic shorthand for a poisoned bloodstream. It’s a little visual cue that makes his derangement that much more satisfying as he tenses his jaw or grips his desk. Julian is a new favorite villain for me from one of these visually-rich, pass-the-time popcorn flicks, and a considerable upgrade on what we had from the CGI abomination that was Clu (Jeff Bridges, but not as his main character Flynn) in Legacy. Julian is all bluster and no bite, and in a very key moment for him, we realize he is a powerless coward. If this sounds like Nicholas Hoult’s recent turn as Lex Luthor, that’s right, but Peters is playing in a very different key, giving us another look at the tech billionaire type we have come to despise.

In other corners of the film, the rest of the cast strives to elevate the work, but mostly comes up short; however, the fault lies in the script and direction. Jodie Turner-Smith stalks through this film with such poise, making me wish her commitment to compliance was even half as explored as Ares’s insubordination. Greta Lee, star of the indomitable indie favorite Past Lives, reminds me also of a Superman character: Rachel Brosnahan‘s Lois Lane. Both actresses are playing brilliant women thrown into situations totally outside of their element. At times, this can make them seem weak, but Eve remains quick and resourceful, though not particularly interesting as a character. Cameron Monaghan, a solid actor continually passed over by Hollywood, achieves less than a minute of screentime–a tragedy. But Jeff Bridges is here! And although many would use the word “cameo” for his appearance, it feels more substantial due to his stature. So I can’t complain for long.

It feels impossible to talk about this thing without mentioning the already-staggeringly-popular Nine Inch Nails score accompanying it. Last month, I went to see NIN in concert after knowing Trent Reznor‘s and Atticus Ross‘ careers primarily through their scores, and since then, I’ve been obsessed with working through their music. I’ve got tickets to see them in another state on the next leg of their tour. I’m all in. And yet, I think their Tron score doesn’t resonate consistently as much as I’d hoped, set in a lineage with a spectacular Daft Punk score that came before it, though perhaps more so than Wendy Carlos‘ underutilized work from ’82. But comparison is the thief of joy. Reznor originally identified his and Ross’s score as “precise and unpleasant at times” but not “atonal” or “punishing,” but I can’t help but think some more unpleasantness in the experience, perhaps something more punishing to the whole film, would have weighted it more, making Ares feel less, well, airy.

Indeed, although many of the action set pieces offer up great moments, they go on too long. Often feeling loose and lanky rather than packing the punch of a condensed, well-fit sequence. My biggest concern with this film is that had it been tighter, even simpler and more streamlined, it could have been a real ride. In the first few minutes, in fact, the setup had me thinking it would be another visual knockout for the franchise. Instead, we get a bag of cool stuff, poured out without a strong sense of structure around it.

I don’t want to give anything away, just that the film’s closing set-up for a new film is tantalizing for a Tron fan, but with Ares banking less than actual Morbius in its opening weekend, I’m not expecting a sequel any time soon, if ever. The Tron franchise was a joy and a gem for over 40 years, and this film does so many great things, from diversifying an almost-entirely white live-action franchise to crafting brand new yet cohesive elements to peppering in some truly fun moments. In a different world where Leto is unalleged and beloved, the audience would be there, and if in that same world Ares had a stronger script and surer direction, I’d have something new to believe in.