Movie Review – Tron: Ares

I was ambivalent about the casting of Jared Leto in this for various reasons that start with me having never been a fan to begin with. Since he is the main character, it is impossible to write a review without talking about his performance so I’m going to set my personal feelings of ick toward the guy aside when I write this. This film has four great things going for it. I’m going to talk about each in turn.

First, the score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor is loud. Noticeable in every scene. And the bass was felt in every seat in the theater. The two musicians also served as executive producers for the film so it is no surprise that their score is so engrained in the very being of the film that it takes on a character of its own. It’s electric. That’s probably the best word for it.

Second, the special effects are a pleasure to watch and match the music in both tone and loudness. The vibrance of the red juxtaposed with black of the uniforms worn by the AI characters both when in the digital world and when they are sent into the real world make for bright and fast chase scenes.

Third, the story is interesting with one “bad” corporation facing off with the “good” corporation in a race to find the permanence code written by the original film’s Kevin Flynn (the code that allows the AI to live in the real world longer than 29 minutes). Within the evil win-at-all-costs side is a mother and CEO (Gillian Anderson) passing the reigns off to her son (Evan Peters) only to find that he will ruin everything she worked for. On the other side, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) works to finish her deceased sister’s work with tech that will help around the world. Stuck in the middle are Ares (Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) who are sent into the real world to get the permanence code from Kim after she finds it. Ares goes on a Pinocchio arc where he wants to be a real boy and turns on his creator when he enlists the help of Kim to help him accomplish this. Athena, on the other hand, takes her directive to overtly serious places and subverts that same creator to chase down Ares and Eve Kim. I had a fun time watching it all unfold, especially the hubris of Evan Peters’ character. He is John Hammond-esque watching his creations take away everything he built.

Fourth, the cast nails the landing here, especially the female characters. Jodie Turner-Smith and Greta Lee are memorable, and Gillian Anderson brings some wisdom to the story populated by younger people. I didn’t even mind Leto in this. His method acting is usually a turn off for me but in this it isn’t noticeable. He gives an understated performance, with subtle facial changes. And Evan Peters brings all the villainy. Really have no complaints with the performances here.

Where Disney fell short on this was the marketing. Instead of showing the strength it had in three female characters and their stories, it put all its cards in showing Leto as the main character. All Leto, all the time. I think they underestimated how much people are turned off by the guy. He isn’t a big draw. Had they shown Greta Lee as more of the main character she is, I believe they would have garnered more interest. So now they will have a bomb on their hands which is unfortunate since the film is solid and it sets up a sequel that is unlikely to happen if it doesn’t make any money.

If you do go see this, bring ear plugs because the score is all bass and loud in the best of ways and see it on an IMAX screen if you live near one. This film about what it means to actually live should be seen on the biggest screen possible.

4 out of 5 stars.