- Date of Release: 10 October 2025
- Genre: Action, Adventure, SciFi
- Language: English
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Tron: Ares
Introduction
In the new English film Tron: Ares, you are introduced to Ares (Jared Leto), a new master control who can transcend and survive in the real world for 29 minutes before perishing. That remained about the exact time on how long the film could hold my attention before perishing in a sea of mediocrity. It is funny how the drama talks about AI and how it could transition into taking over humanity, just on the basis of one command, even as it takes a human to formulate a script as mediocre as this using Chat GPT. The Tron legacy has been one to study, creating the franchise with the first Tron in 1982 when computers remained a thing of the future, only to follow-up (almost) three decades later with Tron: Legacy, almost going in hand-in-hand with the evolving tech-stack in play. However with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, you needed a nuanced Sci-fi Thriller that would justify the existence of the entity, without having to solely rely on the immaculate visual effects and a resounding background score to mask the hollow writing that you get to witness here. In other words, my brain felt perishable after 29 minutes!
Story & Screenplay
In the threequel of the Tron franchise titled Tron: Ares, you see a clear match-up between the two capitalist companies – ENCOM and the Dillinger systems, in what is a classic binary gaze stemming out of the good versus evil template. But this match-up remains rightly scattered with the grandson of Former ENCOM executive, Jullian (Evan Peters) focusing more on the digital constructs thriving in the real-world, while Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the current CEO of ENCOM locking herself in a remote location to find the ‘permanence code’ – a program that would allow the digital constructs to thrive in the real-world for more than 29 minutes. And thus, this is a cat and mouse game that unfolds for (almost) the entire runtime of about 2 hours.
The biggest issue with the drama here lies in how one-dimensional the writing is, wherein all characters follow a single arc without much surprises or stakes in the drama. It is like sitting in a car (or a digital bike 😶) and having only one gear to function with. As a result, there are no highs and lows, just a tiring flat-line with superficial ‘highs’ that are extracted from a couple of chase sequences staged against a pulsating score. It was more the score elevating the mediocrity, more than the writing holding onto its own. The pulse-meter of the drama without the score would feature a flat-line on the ECG machine, but then I digress.
The subtext of the writing was lesser about AI and more about using AI to write. Chat GPT is a beautiful tool to enhance the writing skills but what it doesn’t do is formulate an emotional core for its characters. As a result, Ares’ close affinity to Eve isn’t justified anywhere, neither is Ares’ newfound ability to go rogue from his parent company, simply because these arcs need to be justified in the script more than relying on the escape route. It is a glitch in the creative process that further derails the drama, even as you witness a change in the moralities of Ares, inexplicably so!
The meter of atrocity goes from bad to worse, even as basic plot-points are repeated, thereby creating insurmountable moments of lag in the second hour, even as a part of the action shifts inside the 80s console, a medium that is solely used for nostalgia. It is almost an easy mode for Ares while venturing into a ‘time machine’ that offers no challenges, just solitude. Elsewhere, you are witness to Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), the once second-in-command digital construct taking center-stage and creating havoc. This actually made me think – there wouldn’t have been a story – let alone a lame finale face-off between Athens and Ares – if Jullian’s mother had brought him up well😶. In an early scene, you see her slapping her son across his face – a slap that ought to have been reserved for Jullian in his childhood, or people like me who had anticipated Tron: Ares to be one of the films of the year. Lol, the joke is on us, and the first attack by AI lies in underplaying its potential through a movie script! I give up!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are corny, almost being devoid of any emotions while expecting viewers to biy into the emotional arcs of digital entities. It tells you a thing or two of what all is wrong with this kind of a movie. One of the saving grace in a big way remains the pulsating BGM by Nine Inch Nails. There is a punky flavour imparted by the multiple notes, something that elevates the drama into a territory of it being watchable. How well did Nine Inch Nails understand the assignment here, is something that only be explained through the writing, that is negligibly thin but spiced up by the background score. A similar compliment can be extended to the outstanding cinematography that reimagines the digital world with a sense of aesthetics featuring a red-trailing line. It is aesthetically pleasing to view this film on the biggest screen possible wherein the VFX remain top-notch. But alas, you can’t mount the film just on the imageries and a soundtrack while passing off a generic script as an ‘exciting’ one.
The editing pattern gets far too repetitive in the second hour, so much so that there are multiple lags in play, all at once that made me feel the length of the drama to be a bit of a stretch (I understand technology, that isn’t the issue). Director Joachin Ronning has a very gimmicky approach to proceedings – heavily inclined towards relying on graphics and a resounding soundtrack, as compared to elevating the written material off the script. Some of the events are outright flat in its staging, so much so that I couldn’t help but think that a better director would have done better justice to it. The wafer-thin written material is further drowned by a subpar execution, that further drowns the drama in a sea of mediocrity.
Performances
The performances are just about average here, wherein most of the damage remained due to the lack of characterization on a basic script level. Hasan Minhaj as Ajay Singh, Arturo Castro as Seth (somewhat funny) and Gillian Anderson as Elisabeth are just used as fillers in the narrative. Evan Peters as Jullian is a caricature of an antagonist that hardly comes across as ambitious or intimidating, while being childish with his performance. Jodie Turner-Smith as Athena is barely impactful given her one-tone characterization that allows her to operate with a binary gaze. Greta Lee as Eve Kim is sincere but her character lacks the emotional depth that was needed to drive home her motive. As a result, the character comes across as a cardboard cutout while further flattenening the impact. Jared Leto is a jinxed performer having suffered multiple setbacks even in well known franchises. And Tron: Ares is no different. He is hardly convincing as Ares, almost being confused on what the intended ’emotions’ are with respect to the entity. As a result, there is a lack of interest in investing in his journey wherein some of his transitions aren’t really justified in the script. He is just average to witness here and that remains the bottomline for the film too.
Conclusion
Tron: Ares is a visual spectacle boasting of a negligible script that drowns in a tepid sea of mediocrity. There is no saving this film other than a resounding soundtrack and a visual fest, both of which cannot save a project that lacks a basic plot in the first place. Available in a theatre near you.