Tron: Ares
The groundbreaking exploration of the overlap of AI and the real world is even more topical now in Joachim Rønning’s alarming, funny helter-skelter ride.
Doomsday scenario: Greta Lee
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
Just as Tron (1982) was ahead of its time, so the third chapter in the cinematic franchise has taken another leap into the future. Blending the video game dynamic of the 1980s with the current concerns of artificial intelligence, Tron: Ares takes the possibilities of molecular manipulation into a whole new arena. But even disregarding the film’s expansion into the philosophical and the meaning of humanity, it is a mind-tripping blast of entertainment. From the laser-tooled precision of Tyler Nelson’s editing to the thumping score of Nine Inch Nails, the film is a gift of high-end escapism anchored by the expertise of the talent involved. Sometimes when an array of disparate voices are thrown into the mix, the result can be a discordant babble. Here, the collusion of the diverse merely strengthens the narrative bond, the seemingly dubious clash of contrasting elements providing a rousing diversity.
For a start, the casting choices turn out to be surprisingly smart. Who would have thought that the uber-Method Jared Leto could be so compelling as a digital construct, albeit a programmed action figure that begins to tap into real-world emotions? And as the film’s protagonist, Greta Lee (Past Lives) brings both intelligence and compassion to a traditionally one-dimensional part. On top of which Jodie Turner-Smith is befittingly striking as the distaff associate of Leto’s Ares, introducing an icy resolve to an entity that refuses to override its directive. And in the role that was once the preserve of Ben Mendelsohn, Evan Peters provides a suitably oily intellectualism to the programmer who views his global game-playing as an elaborate chess game (“sometimes you have to sacrifice your knight to expose the queen”).
If the plot feels recycled (the dangers of military software and AI writ large), there are enough priceless moments as well as humour and visual aplomb to keep the whole thing feeling fresh. In fact, there is so much packed into the film’s 118 minutes, that one feels compelled to revisit it as soon as possible to disentangle the narrative threads, technological omens, mythological allusions and notes of profundity. And while the visuals persist in blowing the mind, the dialogue holds its own throughout.
As no doubt gamers will relish the digital legerdemain – and their parents will delight in the nods to 1980s’ tech – the film is not afraid to remind us that it is the impermanence of life that really gives it its value.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins.
Dir Joachim Rønning, Pro Sean Bailey, Jared Leto, Emma Ludbrook, Jeffrey Silver, Steven Lisberger and Justin Springer, Ex Pro Joseph Kosinski, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Russell Allen, Screenplay Jesse Wigutow, from a story by David DiGilio and Jesse Wigutow, Ph Jeff Cronenweth, Pro Des Darren Gilford, Ed Tyler Nelson, Music Nine Inch Nails, Costumes Alix Friedberg and Christine Bieselin Clark, Sound Addison Teague, Marius Brovold, Tormod Ringnes and Pål Baglo, Dialect coach Tony Alcantar.
Walt Disney Pictures/Sean Bailey Productions-Walt Disney Studios.
118 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 10 October 2025. Cert. 12A.
