#SHOWBIZ: 'Tron: Ares' is an industrial-strength spectacle
IT has been a decade and a half since Daft Punk dropped the needle on the record of cool, electronic escapism with 'Tron: Legacy'.
Now, the Grid is back, booting up with the kind of digital bombast that instantly demands your attention. Disney's new chapter, 'Tron: Ares', is less a direct sequel and more of a spiritual reboot, taking the core aesthetics fans adore and applying them to a new, urgent storyline for the AI age.
This latest instalment is a thunderous, certified top-tier audio-visual package that demands the biggest screen you can find.
Director Joachim Rønning (of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' and 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' fame) certainly knows how to dial up the spectacle.
From the moment the signature red neon rips across the screen, a striking, aggressive contrast to the cool blues of yesteryear, you are in a world of flawlessly rendered CGI and kinetic energy.
Rønning has delivered what the franchise has always promised: a sensory overload.
The Light Cycle duels are phenomenal, a vicious upgrade to the elegant duels of the past, applying a brutal, industrialised texture to the proceedings. This is pure, pixelated poetry in motion, and a film engineered squarely for the theatrical experience.
The biggest shift here, and perhaps the most daring, is the storyline. Instead of another human getting dragged in, we watch a digital being get out. This thematic inversion drags the franchise firmly into the terrifying, AI-obsessed realities of the 21st century.
The movie sees the digital and real worlds colliding as the tech rivalry between ENCOM and Dillinger Systems escalates. Both factions are desperate to obtain the "Permanence Code", which is required to stop digital constructs from disintegrating in the human world.
Julian Dillinger sends Ares, on a mission into our reality, but the highly advanced AI Program gains self-awareness and begins to question his orders. This sets him on a path that determines whether the Grid's power will be used to better humanity or to serve Julian's military ambitions.
Jared Leto's casting as Ares, the "highly sophisticated Program" materialising in our world, is spot on, as his unsettling screen presence perfectly suits a powerful AI that has crossed the physical divide.
Ah, but the perennial snag of the Tron universe returns: the narrative. While the premise is timely and intriguing, the screenplay quickly becomes entangled in its own complexities.
It's a film that constantly talks about big ideas — AI ethics, sentience, mortality — but only manages to scratch the surface, favouring exposition over genuine emotional exploration.
The attempt to make us care as much about the programs as we do about the action falters, and Ares himself often feels like a thinly written cyborg merely waiting for his next light-up pose.
Thankfully, the high-tech chaos is grounded by Greta Lee, who brings the relatable human aspect and warmth as the CEO of ENCOM.
Now, let's talk about the score — the lifeblood of any Tron experience. The baton has passed from Daft Punk to Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and, frankly, they have not come to play nice.
The result is a score that is the antithesis of Legacy's melodic beauty; it's dissonant, industrial and gloriously abrasive. It trades the smooth, atmospheric synth waves for a hammering, electronic thunder, creating a monumental feat that single-handedly gives the film its dark, electric soul.
It may lack the recognisable themes of the past, but it provides an aggressive, palpable vibe that is undeniably cool.
'Tron: Ares', then, is a modern, "Marvel-ified" blockbuster — faster, louder, and ultimately more accessible than its predecessors. It's a stylish, gorgeously loud, two-hour "brain vacation" that trades the deep immersion of the digital realm for a flashy, real-world showdown.
Bottom line: If you're a fan of visual and sonic spectacles, consider watching this on the biggest screen possible.
'Tron: Ares' may not rewrite the code for blockbuster cinema, but as a pure-play theatrical rush powered by dazzling effects and a score that absolutely shreds, it earns a respectable place on the main circuit board.
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TRON: ARES
Directed by Joachim Rønning
Starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jeff Bridges
Duration: 119 mins
Classification: 13
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