TRON: Ares
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1982 the world was introduced to Tron on the big screen. While the film now doesn’t seem all that impressive at the time of its release it was like nothing anyone had ever seen in films. Despite it doing decently enough and being a cult classic, it wasn’t until 2010 that the highly anticipated sequel Tron: Legacy finally hit the big screen. Now the wait is over for the next chapter in Tron: Ares, but is it worthy of returning to the grid or will it be a program not worth downloading?
Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings. The film stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges from director Joachim Rønning.
The idea of flipping the script and bringing them out of the grid instead of going in was an idea I thought was cool but worried it just wouldn’t work. The explanation of how it works makes it work and knowing the status of Olivia Wilde’s character Quorra in the previous film showed it was already established it was possible. I know the film has gotten some mixed reviews, but I can say I am not sure why as I had a blast with this film and got pretty much everything, I wanted out of it.
The film wastes very little time getting to the action and grid fun and doesn’t let up all that often. There is just enough set-up to let us know where we are in the timeline with connections to both previous films as we move forward with a whole new cast of characters. This is very much cemented in the world that has
come before it with some great nods to both films, especially the classic original. Every film in this franchise is pretty much the same story on some level, and this one isn’t very different, but does enough new things to make it stand out.
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The cast are all good, but it’s Leto that really stands out here. I like him as an actor but wasn’t sure I would like him here. He steps into this role to perfection, bringing both layers of a soulless program and the evolution of his being as it moves along. As the film moves along you can see the layers being added just like a program learning and it helps to keep the film moving and elevating to the direction it is leading.
The soundtrack is fantastic, bringing a full-on techno tone that is loud and in your face at every turn. There is a ton of great action throughout the film with some clever and unique uses for the discs and vehicles from the grid. The fighting is also stepped up with some great uses of the light trails and all the weapons. As a massive TRON fan, I walked into this film stoked to step back into the grid and I walked out glad I did. Clearly it isn’t working for everyone, but for me I love it and recommend seeing it on the biggest screen and loudest theater possible.
Hopefully it finds its audience because it ends up setting up possibilities for the next chapter and a mid-credit scene that pushes that even more that could further bring all the films together in a cool way.
In addition to the film this release offers bonus content including deleted scenes, featurettes and so much more. Along with this latest feature they are bringing all the films together in one collection on DVD as well. Step out of the grid and onto the small screen with Tron: Ares available now on digital and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on January 6, 2026 from Disney Home Entertainment.
