After 15 years, Disney has returned to the Grid, with an all-new story in the Tron universe backed by the vision of the creative mind behind all your favourite films, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, director Joachim Rønning. In Tron: Ares, mankind encounters AI beings for the first time when a highly sophisticated programme, Ares (played by Jared Leto), leaves the digital world for a dangerous mission in the real world.
The film itself has been in development quite some time, with Leto joining the project in 2017, though at one point, an envisioned direct sequel to the 2010 film Tron Legacy would have seen a reunion of stars Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund, with director Joseph Kosinski on board to direct, though the original idea for what would become Ares was officially dead by May 2015.
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The Grid Is Back… But Emotion Is Missing
Jared Leto keeps this from reaching its potential massively. There are moments between Greta Lee’s Eve and Leto’s Ares where genuine emotion is clearly intended, but only one of them is showing up to work. Lee gives it 1000%, grounding the story with a warmth and conviction that Leto’s cold, single-note delivery can’t reciprocate.
Her friend, Seth (Arturo Castro), adds some much-needed levity, but other supporting characters, like ENCOM’s CTO (Hasan Minhaj) and his team, are reduced to pure plot fodder, feeling massively invaluable to the ongoing storyline until they’re needed for the final act.
For a film that hinges on the idea of an AI learning empathy, it’s ironic that its lead feels entirely devoid of it. At times, Leto’s performance sits somewhere between Morbius and a malfunctioning screensaver; the end result is an empty vessel surrounded by actors doing their best to give the story life. God only imagines a world where this film has a proper actor in its lead, titular role.
The “29-minute reset timer” gimmick introduces predictable tension beats, meaning I knew exactly when characters would be saved by the clock, but the pacing otherwise holds steady. For a two-hour runtime, Ares rarely drags; Rønning keeps things kinetic enough to stay engaging.
Enter the Dillingers
On the flip side, Evan Peters is a delightfully unpredictable presence. Seeing him step back into antagonist territory after his American Horror Story days is a genuine treat. His portrayal of Julian Dillinger brings an intensity and edge that punctuates the film’s real-world moments. His reaction when Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) kills his mother, played by the legendary Gillian Anderson, is a rare burst of genuine shock that ripples through the theatre.
Speaking of Athena, Turner-Smith delivers solid work as a loyal enforcer with a growing spark of sentience, though the script never gives her the standout moment she deserves. Whilst Jeff Bridges’ cameo as Flynn makes little narrative sense, it’s a pleasant nod to the franchise’s legacy, even if it occasionally feels like Disney’s way of whispering, “Come back, Olivia Wilde” on more than one occasion during this film.
The Sound of the System
If there’s one undisputed highlight, it’s the Nine Inch Nails score. In Dolby 3D, the soundscape becomes a living organism, with the bass reverberating through the cinema seats, amplifying every derezzing, duel, and drop of rain. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross infuse the film with the kind of industrial melancholy that gives the Grid its pulse, and for stretches of time, the music makes up for what the performances can’t. It’s honestly the kind of soundtrack that demands a theatrical experience, immersive, textural, and occasionally transcendent, I’m not even lying.
Thematically, Tron: Ares wants to explore empathy, mortality, and the blurred line between human and machine. But despite its high-minded intentions, much of the emotional core feels manufactured. Eve’s arc is compelling on paper, but loses weight when paired with Leto’s robotic stillness.
‘Tron: Ares’ – Final Thoughts
Tron: Ares is a visually bold, sonically mesmerising return to Disney’s digital frontier, but one sabotaged by its own leading man. Rønning’s direction, Greta Lee’s charisma, and Nine Inch Nails’ hypnotic score elevate the material beyond its narrative hiccups, yet the film can’t escape the gravitational pull of Leto’s emotional void.
Tron: Ares is now playing in theaters. Check out the trailer below:
The Review
'Tron: Ares'
Tron: Ares is a visually bold, sonically mesmerising return to Disney’s digital frontier, but one sabotaged by its own leading man. Rønning’s direction, Greta Lee’s charisma, and Nine Inch Nails’ hypnotic score elevate the material beyond its narrative hiccups, yet the film can’t escape the gravitational pull of Leto’s emotional void.
