By Carter James, Editor in chief  

The Tron franchise is like that one cousin that comes to a family function once every blue moon. They’re weird, say a whole bunch nonsense, but has a cool sense of style and leaves you with memories that are more fond than upsetting.  

You are not expecting gripping character drama or rich thematic presence from a Tron movie. Cool action, gorgeous cinematography, heavenly music and neon is what given this franchise cult status.  “Tron Ares” delivers on what’s to be expected from the franchise but still feels hollowed out.  

It seems to be “end of line” for franchise main characters like Sam Flynn, Quora, and even Alan Bradley (known to the grid as Tron) because they’re either referenced to by photo or not even referred to at all.  

We follow the family matters of the Dillinger family in “Ares.” The family infamous for the nefarious dealings with ENCOM, the company responsible for the virtual worlds synonymous with the franchise, as the villain from the original “Tron” was then CEO Ed Dillinger. Now, the Dillinger family has their own company that is rivals with ENCOM, each with their own grids.  

The premise is somewhat simple. Jullian Dillinger, grandson of Ed Dillinger, has harnessed the technology that can send real people into the grid and reversed it to where the grid can come to the real world. Dillinger is using this to take the AI security systems in the grid and sell them as military in the form of soldiers and weaponry. The only thing in his way is a code that allows the AI soldiers to stay in the real world for more than 30 minutes. A code only Eve Kim, the CEO of ENCOM, is in possession of.  

This leads us to our titular character, Ares. He’s the ultimate AI soldier that commands the Dillinger grid. After his first visit to the real world, he has a crisis of purpose and decides he wants to be a part of the real world, then be at the beckon call of Dillinger or anyone else. 

With a premise of the virtual and real-world colliding and a rouge AI searching for humanity, this seems like an easy layup of a sci-fi film. What you’re given is a film that is pacifying in its display of spectacle and a trite excuse of attempting to be a compelling narrative.  

Simply put, this is still a fun time. The action set pieces on the grid, and the real world are fun and excellently put together. It’s a pretty film, which is expected from a pioneer of digital cinematography like Jeff Cronenweth. The soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails is an absolute heater start to finish. But something feels slightly off.  

The Dillinger and ENCOM grid lack intrigue to them. Any time there is something that takes place virtually, you’re sent back to the real world where someone is controlling what goes on. This is not unfamiliar to Tron inherently, but there used to be a real autonomy to the grid world. It felt self-sustaining; the AI characters didn’t feel as intertwined with the human users. I wouldn’t have a problem with less focus on the grid world if there was something interesting going on in the real world.  

I don’t care about the affairs of the real world because the movie barely cares itself. Greta Lee does the best she can with what little material is there for the character of Eve Kim. Anytime the character is on screen, it’s a plug in play of conventional “wanting to change the world for the better” talk or doing things in memory of a dead relative. It’s all done so quickly to give logic to why things are happening, when there’s never a moment to flesh out the people who are doing said things.  

Ares was never going to be the greatest character in fiction, but there should’ve been more to him, since he’s the vehicle in which nearly everything moves through in the film. Ares is doing the action, getting the MacGuffin, and even delivering character depth, literally. There’s a moment where Ares explains the characterization of Kim to Kim, and that’s the closest we get to a character arc for the whole movie. Funny enough, Jared Leto, who plays Ares, does a good job. Who else stands there as lifeless character that does what is needed for the movie than him? 

The standouts of the film are Evan Peters as Dillinger and the insane set pieces that happen when the AI wreak havoc on the real world. Peters is having a blast playing a comically evil, bratty CEO that is akin to the typical comical nepo baby executives in films. The shining set piece of the film is a chase between Kim on a motorcycle and AI soldiers on the iconic Tron light cycles, as they tear through real city streets.  

“Tron Ares” is an oddity for the Tron franchise. It has all the positives and negatives you come to expect from this Disney franchise, but the positives aren’t as positive, and the negatives reach embarrassing levels of trite and convenient. It’s passively fun to watch but never reaches the revolutionary highs of its predecessors “Tron” and “Tron Legacy.”  

With a lack of franchise classics like disk wars, real light cycle games and a brief Jeff Bridges cameo, I can’t see Tron fans or those intrigued by Tron to be too excited. Don’t expect another revival of the franchise anytime soon.