Tron: Ares - A Review

Tron: Ares (Playing in wide release theatres as of October 10th, 2025) 

Dir: Joachim Rønning

Starring: Jared Leto, Gretta Lee, Evan Peters, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj

Tron: Ares is the third installment to the Tron franchise, a sequel to Tron: Legacy (2010), and comes just in the nick of time out of a fifteen-year obscurity of the franchise. The question on everyone's mind is what happens when the simulation enters the real world? At the helm is director Joachim Rønning, with previous experience working with the Disney franchise Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019). I had two basic criteria for the film to achieve. Deliver a solid score from composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, including some new Nine Inch Nails songs. Secondly, have some decent visual elements and VFX to entertain me for the run time. A bold stroke of confidence to release the score and new music before the release of the film got me excited for what was to come. Jared Leto’s monotone voice of Ares proceeded to kill all other expectations. 

    There is a battle of control going on over the tech gaming corporation Encom. The antagonistic rival company helmed by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) seems to be using the new technology for a militaristic future. Peters has no problem chewing every line of dialogue that the scene permits, but has a greater tension built in the anthology series American Horror Story. Dilinger has created the Ares (Jared Leto), the same name as the Greek God of War, so there is no confusion about his motivations. Ares is a program that is indestructible and ready for the battlefield. However, there is a fault in the program that he must solve. They communicate with each other behind a closed virtual computer system, similar to Jeff Goldblum’s Oz in Wicked. Don’t expect Ares to have deep philosophical conversations with Dillinger; it's more of a system to carry out orders at first. Opposed to Dilinger would be Eve Kim (Greta Lee), who is on the verge of a big discovery. This discovery would lead to helping humanity for the better, then weaponizing it to fight our battles. Maybe this is the counter culture that Tron is looking for, but does Ares develop his own set of ideas and moral compass or just turn into a Terminator to fight the wars for the American militarization industrial complex? 

    This then leads us to the main focus of the character of Ares (Jared Leto), despite him coming off as monotone and computerized, that’s the character he is playing; he does dabble with trying to understand emotions and make connections. Does Ares grow a sense of morality along the way? What would happen if someone were to cut his strings? Possibly the best part of Ares is when the dialogue is silent and the score sets the pace alongside some great motorcycle chases or some of the action combat scenes, then Ares is deep in a monotone thought process. The action sequences outweigh any clunky dialogue or storyline if you like your action films VFX-heavy. 

    Maybe the true dull failure of Tron: Ares is not using the actors to their full potential and strengths. A prime example is that Hasan Minhaj could have been great for comedic relief in this dull film; however, no one was laughing, and it’s because there were no points for him to have a comedic moment. Possibly one moment in the beginning involving some prop comedy,  but it vanishes in a second when a character thwarts his comedic attempt. Instead, we get a lead out of Jared Leto, who plays Ares as a monotone one-dimensional computer simulation whose empathy grows, but Siri has more vocal expression and can tell you jokes. Stay for the music, sound design and possibly some of the visual elements. Some deep fans of the series may have some easter eggs sprinkled in. Leave for the exit when the script has lost its focus, the militarization industrial complex or how AI can be used to save humanity, and the characters seem stuck in the simulation that they so desperately want to get out of. 

⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remi is the host of At The Movies, along with regular Co-Host Danny Aubery, every Tuesday morning from 9-10 AM only on CJLO 1690 AM. They cover local film festivals, have interviews with directors and actors, and talk about a new film or the classics. As well as the iconic sounds of present and past film scores and soundtracks. Follow Remi on Letterboxd.