Tron: Ares, directed by Joachim Rønning, is in cinemas now.
Years before Neo disappeared into The Matrix, the 1982 groundbreaking sci-fi film Tron had Jeff Bridges’ computer genius disappear into an alternate world known as the Grid.
In Tron: Legacy, the uneven 2010 attempt to build a franchise, the Grid’s indentured inhabitants were still shooting about on luminous motorcycles as nefarious entities tried to gain control.
Now, in the third act of this third Tron movie, a key character is transported into a version of the Grid that will delight fans of the arcade-game look of the original.
Compared with the impressively futuristic visuals and immersive combination of pulsating sound and strobing neon in this latest film, the Grid version 1.0 is all sparse outlines and flat vehicles that putter along rather than zoom, with a cameo from a whiskery Bridges adding some cod philosophy.
It’s a memorable part of a mostly forgettable if visually impressive film.
It’s one of Ares’ several callbacks to the Trons of the past and given that this future-focused franchise has always been more about style than story, Ares will certainly satisfy fans aesthetically.
Ares is set years after the 2010 sequel. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of Bridges’ Kevin Flynn, handed over the reins to his father’s company, Encom, which is now run by altruistic Eve Kim (Past Lives’ Greta Lee).
While she’s focused on using AI to grow orange trees to feed the world, rival tech bro Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the grandson of the first film’s villain, is busy building indestructible soldiers in a virtual reality that can be beamed into the real world.
But when Dillinger Systems’ super-warrior (played with greasy-haired intensity by Jared Leto) suddenly starts exhibiting human empathy and reading Frankenstein, his potential as goodie or baddie becomes dangerously blurred.
Tron: Ares won’t be remembered for its predictable “use your powers for good/evil” plot, and while all the performances are an improvement on Legacy’s vapid Hedlund, even the excellent Lee and Peters can’t make the bog-standard dialogue exciting.
Gillian Anderson slips into her Margaret Thatcher impersonation as Dillinger’s disapproving mother, though mercifully Leto doesn’t repurpose his House of Gucci accent.
But in terms of sight and sound, this Tron exceeds everything you’ve seen before, particularly on the Imax screen. Industrial rock gods Nine Inch Nails provide an exhilarating score, which is harsher but no less musical than Legacy’s soundtrack by Daft Punk, and the chase scenes through computer programs and city streets are thrilling.
In the cinema, the glorious bright red neon and gleaming whites vibrate with excitement for what our actual future might hold. But all that dazzle can’t stop Tron’s story from feeling as if it’s running on software that hasn’t been updated in years.
Rating out of five: ★★★
