Tron: Ares

Tron: Ares
Starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith
Directed by Joachim Ronning

Throughout cinematic history there's been sequels that no one's asked for. While some have turned out to be spectacular, most others proved the point made earlier - a sequel that didn't need to be made. "Tron: Ares" falls under that category, a film released fifteen years after "Tron: Legacy" (which, oddly enough, was another sequel no one asked for) and over forty years after the original (which, despite having its rabid fanbase, was never a huge hit to begin with). The writing was on the wall from the planning stages, but only exasperated itself when Jared Leto - a social pariah with numerous sexual assault allegations against him - was cast in the leading role. To no one's surprise, "Ares" fumbled at the box office, but is it as bad as people say?

In a futuristic world, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the CEO of Dillinger Systems, plans to bring digital constructs into reality with the help of a machine that can print those constructs into the real world to sell to the government so they can use the technology to form their own armies without the need for killing citizens and also making them nearly impossible to stop. There's one problem - those constructs can only last 29 minutes before they're reduced to dust and sent back to the digital construct. Dillinger works on their side with Ares (Jared Leto), a super-intelligent program created by Dillinger, along with Ares right hand Athena (Jodie Smith-Turner) who's as ruthless as he is. Yet when Ares gets a feel for the real world, he begins exhibiting human emotions that counters his programming.

Meanwhile, ENCOM chief executive officer Eve Kim (Greta Lee) discovers the "permanence code" which breaks the 29-minute barrier holding the constructs. She wishes to use this technology for good, while Dillinger wants to sell it to the highest bidder, so he sends Ares and Athena to retrieve the code at any cost. However, due to his admiration for the real world, Ares turns against Dillinger and assists Eve to use the code to end Dillinger's plans and unite the two worlds - with Dillinger and Athena turning on him in the process.

I was worried going into "Tron: Ares" that I wouldn't understand what was happening, because in all honesty it's been decades since I've seen the original, and I've never seen "Legacy." Fortunately, there's enough exposition that brought me up to speed quickly, but then I was concerned that I wouldn't get the point of this film. It seemed like it would be a highly cerebral story with many coded messages that only the highest intellectuals would understand - but instead the plot is as simple as they come: a Frankenstein's monster of the modern age discovers the joy of life and wants to do good which is against his master's will. That's basically the premise of the movie, with the generic tropes of a MacGuffin and good versus evil permeating the landscape. If it wasn't for the stellar effects and amazing musical score by Nine Inch Nails, "Ares" would've been completely ignored - but with those two qualities, it's better than most people give it credit for.

That's not to say this is a great film - in fact, it's still rather dull - but the animation and effects liven things up to exponential degrees. The CGI world is dazzling, the colors bright and lively, and the action sequences are intense and adrenaline pumping. That might sound like I'm hyping it up too much, but basically it's the equivalent of seeing a beautiful dress in a window and knowing you can never own it: beautiful to see, but still hidden behind glass.

Oscar winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails supplies the soundtrack and score for the film, and serves as a perfect counterpart to the visuals. The music is filled with electricity that pulses through the screen, pumping up the viewer for the visuals they'll witness, and hardly lets up from start to finish.

If only everything else about this movie was as stellar. The performances across the board are generic and one-note: Greta Lee (who was snubbed from an Oscar nod for her work in "Past Lives") plays Eve Kim, the CEO who wants to do good with the device she's entrusted with, and who serves as the film's main protagonist. Evan Peters' Julian Dillinger is your generic tech villain who points out rightly the dangers of AI and 3D printing in the wrong hands, but is equally one-note. Then there's Jared Leto, who is unjustly blamed for the film's failure. If anyone had taken that part, it would've been just as lackluster, because - as I said in the opening - this is a sequel no one wanted.

While the action is exciting, the visuals are dazzling, and the score is electrifying, "Tron: Ares" is all visuals and no substance, offering a generic plot that you've seen in countless films before with one-note performances that don't live up to the visuals around them.

The Score: B-