Tron: Ares Review: A Mind-Blowing Sci-Fi Action Spectacle
There’s a moment in Tron: Ares where Evan Peters’s character exclaims, “That might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” It’s funny; I was thinking the exact same thing throughout the entire movie. 43 years after Tron first pulled audiences into the Grid and 15 years after Tron: Legacy brought us back into this world, this movie reminds us that the future still glows neon, and it’s louder, sleeker, and stronger than ever.
In many ways, Tron: Ares feels like a risk. It’s a departure from the previous two movies, which primarily set themselves within the world of Tron. The majority of this sequel is set in the real world, but the screenplay from Jesse Wigutow allows the technology we’re familiar with from that world to enter ours. Tron: Legacy featured a very blue and orange color palette, but this movie swaps those colors out for red. Red is everywhere in this movie, and it’s such a phenomenal aesthetic change that works perfectly within this universe.
The film is set a few years after Tron: Legacy. Sam Flynn has left his position as CEO of ENCOM, which is now run by Eve Kim (Greta Lee). Her rival CEO is Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), grandson of Ed Dillinger, the antagonist of the 1982 movie. Dillinger creates a super-intelligent program named Ares (Jared Leto), and the movie follows what happens when Ares begins to develop a mind of his own. It’s a fascinating look at the ever-present topic of artificial intelligence, and it’s told in the most entertaining way possible.
Tron: Ares makes the bold choice of setting things in our world, so what happens when you take the Light Cycles and the Identity Discs and you throw them into the cityscapes we know and love? Chaos. Pure, unbridled madness. And that’s what I live for. The film is the most grounded and accessible out of all the Trons because we spend so much of it in a world that’s familiar to us. We’re not watching entire set pieces made on computers and green screens. We’re watching practical stunts and effects, background actors running away, and having a hell of a good time.
This movie does such a superb job of combining practical effects with visual effects. Joachim Rønning is also a very talented director. It makes sense as to why Disney has continually hired him, after Young Woman and the Sea, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. He understands that in order to sell heightened technologies like we see here, the imperfections are the key to perfection. There are shots that are mounted onto Light Cycles as they’re speeding down the street; when you see a shot like that, you forget that functional Light Cycles (unfortunately) are not real.
He’s always doing something dynamic with the camera, especially during the action. One of the early set pieces surrounds two characters on Light Cycles chasing Eve on a motorcycle, and it instantly sold me. It’s one of the best action sequences of the film. We have another shot where the camera is mounted onto a car that Eve is driving, and the camera stays locked onto the side mirror so that we see Eve’s face driving the car while the stunt is being performed. Even if Greta Lee wasn’t actually driving the car in this stunt, little moments like this do an incredible job of selling the idea that she was.
I also love when movies move at a breakneck pace. This is a fast-paced, thrilling movie that launches at full throttle and never slows down. Leto turns in a solid leading man performance, but it’s particularly nice to see Lee in this kind of mainstream blockbuster role after Past Lives. There’s a set piece in the movie that pays tribute to the original 1982 Tron perfectly, and made me appreciate that film more.
Tron: Ares does tread on some familiar territory, but it’s told in such an entertaining way with so many breathtaking visual effects and a soundscape unlike any other. This movie is electrifying, and as a lover of Tron: Legacy, it didn’t let me down. It’s a very different movie that focuses on new characters, but it all works out to create a stellar cinematic experience that should be seen on the biggest screen possible.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Tron: Ares review.
Source: Comingsoon.net