Running Time: 118 minutes
This feature from Disney opens exclusively at theaters and on IMAX screens Friday, October 10th.
As a young boy in 1982, I saw the original Tron on the big screen. The visuals and concept of the inner workings of a computer made a strong impact on me, but I would be hard pressed to remember much about the story. By the time the sequel Tron: Legacy arrived in 2010, I was an adult, but my reaction was nearly identical. It was a great-looking and impressively-scored movie, yet I can’t recall anything about the story that grabbed me. The latest effort to arrive at cinemas is Tron: Ares, which offers a few new wrinkles to the story. It is an improvement over the previous chapter, but to be frank it also has many of the same issues as its predecessors. Perhaps this series simply isn’t for me.
Set sometime after the events of the previous chapter, ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is in fierce competition with Dillinger Corporation CEO, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters). Both are on the brink of a new technological breakthrough that can enable computer elements to enter the real world. But each is plotting very different uses for the new advancement. Additionally, to allow a creation to exist in the real world for an extended period of time, they need to find a hidden code written by vanished ENCOM founder Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Dillinger, who wants to militarize the technology, decides to use an AI security program named Ares (Jared Leto), as well as his cohort Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) to find the code and win the corporate battle at any cost. But as Ares ventures forth on his mission and learns more, he begins to form his own ideas and objectives.
As expected, the technical specs are fantastic. The film looks gorgeous and, if you’re going to see it anyway, you should do so on the biggest screen possible. Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth (Fight Club, The Social Network) and the visual effects team make the interior computer world glow, and when these warriors and their modes of transportation enter the real world, it’s striking to behold. There is even an amusing nod to the original film’s art direction that will please those who adore the first movie.
The Nine Inch Nails score is also bombastic, but enjoyable. In fact, some might be wondering if they might be better served dancing to the movie than watching it. At the IMAX preview screening I saw, the beats sounded a bit too loud in spots and almost drowned out the characters. But the synth-heavy techno backing track (with a couple of numbers featuring vocals) does transport one into the unique world that the characters encounter.
Yet when it comes to drama, there are bigger problems. There is a lot of techno-jargon bandied about, and the characters are weakly drawn. Curiously enough, the most developed figure is AI program Ares, who has a real arc and shows growth over the story. Ares comes off the best by far, but the villain is one-note and even Eve doesn’t change dramatically over the course of events. Truth be told, there isn’t much dialogue from the main figures that isn’t exposition in the first half of the picture and it all feels stiff. In the later sections, Eve does open up and share an amusing conversation or two, but it feels far too late in the proceedings to get us invested in the plight of the character.
Another problem may be with the script itself. Perhaps an even bigger struggle for relatability comes from the fact that the central humans are brilliant millionaire and billionaire CEOs. Not the most accessible people to get behind and root for. When Eve is pursued and put into the middle of a light cycle chase, she doesn’t have as much trouble adapting as one might expect. So, while the action looks great, it isn’t particularly exciting or tense. It’s only towards the final act when we feel any kind of danger for the protagonists and world in general.
I wish the story could have revolved around an outsider finding the code, being hunted, and having to awkwardly figure out how to fend off attackers and adapt to preexisting and perhaps new advances. Alas, that is not the movie that was made. Instead, we have a film that looks and sounds incredible, but is emotionally and dramatically aloof. The credits set up a possible sequel, and perhaps they could address these issues, but in the meantime Tron: Ares still hasn’t maximized the potential of the concept.