Film Review – Tron: Ares

October 10th, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Can a movie work solely on its style? Tron: Ares (2025) makes a compelling argument for it. The latest live action installment of the Tron franchise – which started way back with the 1982 original – is yet another neon-tinged lightshow. It’s filled with spectacular visual effects, taking the foundation of the first film and upgrading it exponentially. It’s as though the production took the biggest and brightest glowsticks ever made and whipped them across our eyeballs in a frenzy. As a twist, this latest entry now brings the digital world of “The Grid” out into the real world, where characters and lightcycles criss cross dimensions with ease. But for all its technical achievements, does the film work on a dramatic, emotional, and thematic level? That question is not so easy to answer.

It was 28 years between Tron and its sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010). It was an additional fifteen years between Legacy and Ares. If there’s one thing to say about this franchise, it’s that it likes to take its time. Ares opens with a montage getting us caught up with everything that has happened. There is a lot of convoluted mumbo jumbo involving corporate finagling, but the bottom line is that the company ENCOM – the same company that game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) worked for in the original – is now in the hands of CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee). Meanwhile, Julian Dillenger (Evan Peters) – grandson of former ENCOM CEO Ed Dillinger (David Warner) – now operates as a direct competitor to Eve. The two have their sights set on advancements in Artificial Intelligence. Where Kim wants to use A.I. for ethical purposes, such as treating illnesses or replenishing food resources, Julian wants to use it to profit off weapons manufacturing.

The direction (Joachim Rønning) and screenplay (Jesse Wigutow) uses a lot of exposition to set up its chess pieces. The central macguffin is a “Permanence Code,” – a piece of computer programming that can transfer digital objects into the real world. Imagine a 3D printer on steroids. To take anything from The Grid and have it become a permanent part of reality can give someone unspeakable power. Eve believes she has stumbled upon that code, and Julian will stop at nothing to get it from her. To do so, he enlists two digital mercenaries – Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) – to hunt Eve down. The bulk of the narrative is an extended chase, where Eve must evade capture and ensure that the Permanence Code does not fall into Julian’s hands.

Whew, that is a lot of explaining, and that hints toward one of the bigger issues plaguing Tron: Ares. The story feels unnecessarily complicated for what is essentially a chase movie. There are a lot of moving parts and plenty of interesting ideas, but the writing never quite assembles it all into a cohesive whole. A.I. is brought up as one of the major themes, but it is unclear what the movie is trying to say about it. Is A.I. a danger to humanity? Can it be a helpful tool if used morally and responsibly? These questions are not answered succinctly. A.I. is a hot button topic, especially in the art world where it threatens the livelihoods of hard-working people. The film doesn’t explore the intricacies of the topic thoroughly enough – it presents its theme but does nothing interesting with it. Jared Leto plays Ares as a program that questions his purpose – a far cry from his portrayal of another non-human entity in Blade Runner 2049 (2017). But what is the larger meaning of Ares questioning his directive? Is there one?

The dynamic between Eve and Julian is odd. Where Eve is set up as the central protagonist (the biblical implications being fairly obvious), Julian is a spoiled brat whose sole motivation is power. We’re told that Eve is driven to develop the Permanence Code due to a personal tragedy, and Julian is driven due to the legacy of his family’s name. Julian’s mother, Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson) hangs over his shoulder relentlessly, willing to express her disapproval at a moment’s notice. But whatever backgrounds we are given of them, it’s hard to ignore that Eve and Julian are wealthy CEOs. While Greta fights to avoid capture from Julian and get a better understanding of A.I. through Ares, we also learn that her company is in the middle of releasing a blockbuster videogame. I suppose this detail is consistent with the rest of the franchise, but on screen it played rather silly.

Much of this review may make it seem as though I am negative on Tron: Ares. However, that brings us back to my opening question: does it work when strictly regarding style? It’s hard to say no. The movie is just a visual feast. When the production gets to the nuts and bolts of the action, it flies. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide a pulse pounding score which elevates the material (although I do miss the synth sounds of Daft Punk from Tron: Legacy). Rønning’s direction – combined with Jeff Cronenweth’s cinematography and Tyler Nelson’s editing – blend computer generated imagery with practical effects flawlessly. One of the standout scenes has Ares and Athena chasing Eve on their lightcycles, leaving light trails all throughout the city. The pacing, editing, and camerawork puts us right alongside Eve, where we can feel her increasing panic as her pursuers close in. It’s just a fantastic, high-octane action sequence.

Tron: Ares works best not on an intellectual level, but as an immediate, in your face fireworks display. We care less about the ideas and more on the excitement of seeing giant digital machines attacking a real-world city like a kaiju. When all the messiness of the plot dissolves, the dynamics between Ares, Eve, and Athena resembles Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Athena – even though she understands her role as a mercenary for Julian – is a formidable adversary in her own right. The more she learns about what can and cannot be done in the real world, the bigger the danger she becomes. She is basically the T-1000, but with the added bonus of having spaceships, lightcycles, and a digital army at her disposal. Ares is the T-101 in this metaphor, a program that can learn, grow, and make his own decisions. What each of them have to say about A.I. doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. But as an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force, their dynamic makes for an exciting clash.

Tron: Ares is best viewed big, loud, and with a whole lot of popcorn. Although it doesn’t break the mold of the action/sci-fi genre, on pure sight and sound it is a pleasure to watch. This is one of those times where your enjoyment of a film will be amplified if you simply turn your mind off. It’s like a really good rollercoaster: you hop in, go on a crazy ride for a while, and when it’s over you get dropped off to enjoy the rest of your day.