A highly sophisticated program, Ares, is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission. (from IMDb)

It’s been 15 years since we last visited The Grid on a big screen. Sure TRON spawned an animated series after TRON Legacy's 2010 release, but the continuation of the theatrical story has lie dormant - with an oft talked about third film - for a decade and a half. So, after many delays, we finally have the third film in the series, TRON: Ares.

At first glance, TRON: Ares feels like it has very little to do with the first 2 movies. In a way, that's true, but it really isn't. The first movie centered on Jeff Bridges' character, Kevin Flynn and the sequel, Legacy, centered on his estranged son Sam, played by Garrett Hedlund. In an effort to find his missing father, Sam stumbled onto The Grid where he found his father trapped. The film ended with Kevin Flynn sacrificing himself to help Sam escape back into the real world, taking an advanced, evolved female program named Quorra with him.

15 years later, Kevin Flynn is still officially missing, while Sam is off somewhere with Quorra, apparently. Encom, the company Kevin had once worked for and then Sam inherited is being run Eve Kim, who had taken over the company from Sam, along with her sister (Who passed away before the events of this film). Running a rival company, called Dillinger Systems, is the grandson of the first film's villain, Julian Dillinger - played by Evan Peters. When we meet Julian, he's in the middle of pitching to the military the idea of bringing characters - or "programs" - from the TRON world to the real world. Dillinger had created what he deems to be the perfect soldier, Ares - played by Jared Leto - and hopes for Ares to be the poster boy for this new money-making venture. But Ares doesn't stray too far from the same cloth that Quorra was proverbially cut from, and he starts to develop feelings and self-awareness. When Julian orders him to kill when he doesn't want to, everything changes.

Meanwhile, the head of Encom, Eve, is off trying to solve a very tricky problem: anything digital brought into the real world "derezzes" and falls to pieces after 29 minutes. She believes Kevin Flynn solved this problem and the answer lies on a disk somewhere. And when Dillinger gets word of this, the hunt is on for Eve. I realize this is a lot to digest, so how does it work as a film? It's hardly perfect, but it feels like a pretty good progression from the direction Legacy took the franchise in. And with AI being all the rage in 2025, the events of Ares don't feel too far-fetched.

If you're a fan of TRON or TRON: Legacy, there's a good chance you'll also like TRON: Ares. Its weakest spots may be in some of the dialog and casting - and perhaps a bit of an over-the-top performance from Peters - but there ends up being plenty of new neat ideas and fantastic visuals to make this one worthy of being lumped in with its successors. It's definitely bittersweet that Hedlund and Olivia Wilde do not return for this third entry. They're referenced, and we see photos of them, but they don't make an appearance otherwise. (I'd love to see a fourth film involve them, though.) Also, TRON: Ares is the first film (or TV series) that doesn't involve the character of TRON at all. We see visual references to the TRON video game, but that's where any mention of it (or him) ends. And Bruce Boxleitner, who had played the character, is nowhere to be found.

Still, references abound to both previous films - from oranges to "Dumont" to the way a character appears getting projected out of The Grid, to some heavy visual nods to the original. It's all mostly done in a way that doesn't feel too much like fan service, mostly adding to the enjoyment of the movie's experience (especially those visual nods to the 1982 original). Although he apparently has a very controversial lifestyle off screen, I thought Jared Leto was actually pretty good as Ares. He fit the character pretty well, and ended up being surprisingly likeable. Greta Lee, on the other hand, while fine as Eve Kim, feels like an odd casting choice for the role she plays. Again, she's fine, but not particularly memorable in the film. If anything, she exists to keep the story moving forward, but she doesn't really seem to have much of a character arc or development. Her blandness shifts the focus to Leto's Ares, which is probably part of her purpose. Evan Peters works well enough as the film's main villain, but his performance is so hot-tempered and loud, it borders on cartoonish. X-Files' Gillian Anderson plays his mother with more class, providing a little extra conflict for Dillinger. And Jodie Turner-Smith plays a fellow program to Ares, named Athena, and seems to be a pretty good fit for the role of a battle-ready program as well.

I was pretty disappointed to hear Daft Punk wasn't returning to score Ares, and when I gave a listen to the new score from Nine Inch Nails before seeing the movie, I thought it was pretty weak. However, used within the film, Trent Reznor's more dissonant industrial score fits the vibe that Ares aims to give off. The movie is darker than either of the previous films (but not without hope), and Reznor's score only fosters that feeling. (I could have done without him singing on four of the best tracks on the soundtrack, though.) Surprisingly, Reznor gives a few musical nods to the Daft Punk score -- just enough to ground it in the same world.

The content for TRON: Ares isn't too bad, but it's edgier than the previous films. This is the first in the series to earn a PG-13 rating, too. But this is mostly because of the darker feel and violence in the film. The only blood is seen as some light scrapes on two different people's faces near the end of the movie. The most violent moment is when a human character is impaled by a pointed light disc. We see the victim lying on the ground after being stabbed, slowly dying, with what looks like burn marks on their clothing, instead of blood. (I suppose a real person getting stabbed by a light disc is like getting stabbed by a light saber.) There are several action sequences that show black-masked programs in glow-trim suits fighting each other with light discs and staffs, with many of them falling apart into pieces of glowing digital cubes (much like in TRON: Legacy). And when these characters "derezz" in the real world, their skin starts to look ashen and then it crumbles to pieces (sometimes while the victim is screaming). A lot of it can be considered intense by younger viewers, so definitely keep that in mind. There is no sexual content at all, but there is just a little more profanity than the previous films. Gillian Anderson utters the film's lone "S" word, while Hasan Minhaj's Ajay says "g*dd*mn" in one scene. Other than that, there are several uses of "Oh my G-d," "Oh G-d" or "My G-d," and a few of "h*ll" and "d*mn."

TRON: Ares is hardly a masterpiece, but it's a lot of fun. If you want a good sci-fi action flick to carry on this modest, iconic franchise, I really don't think TRON: Ares disappoints. We caught it on IMAX 3D and it was a visually exciting spectacle (albeit maybe too loud). Hopefully this isn't the last we'll see of the TRON world, but if it is, I think it's a relatively satisfying way to end it. (There is no post-credits scene, but there is an extra scene after the credits start that show you the fate of a particular character, while giving some quality nostalgic feels regarding the 1982 original - so definitely stick around for that.)

Featurettes
The Journey to TRON: Ares (11:42) - Here the filmmakers talk about the three different "grids" featured in the film, and giving them each a distinct look. They also talk about bringing Jeff Bridges back, the evolution of the light suits (and the weight of them), the new vehicles, shooting things practically, splitting a real car in half and the music of NIN. (2 "bad *ss")

Lightcycles on the Loose (6:58) - Director Joachim Rønning talks about how the light cycle street chase is an ode to the Return of the Jedi speeder bikes chase. He reveals that they even used some sound effects directly from Jedi. They ended up shooting as much as they could of the chase for real, on the streets in Vancouver. They then talk about the challenges they faced in cutting the police car in half using practical effects!

The Artistry of TRON: Ares (6:18) is about the light suits and practical sets and special effects. It specifically covers the "light skimmer" sequence, NIN and the music of the film, and the design of the movie's sound. (1 "Oh my G-d")

Cast Conversations (4:55) - Here we see very fast-cut snippets of interviews between cast members. For example, first we see Jeff and Jared, where Jeff says they wore "dance belts" on their suits (which causes Jared to question what even are "dance belts"). It's here that Jeff touches on how Jared dove so deep into the role that he wanted to be addressed as Ares on set at all times. (Wait, can we talk about how crazy that is for a second?) We also see some chats between Greta and Jodie, and Gillian and Evan. It's criminal how short this segment is. When it ends, it ends with Jared even expressing how short their actual interviews were and how he had a lot of questions of his own he wanted to ask Jeff. (1 "a" word)

The Legacy of TRON (5:13) - This is one of those classic Disney "did you find all the Easter eggs and references?" segments. It focuses on some obvious nods, and a bunch of not-so-obvious and blink-and-you'll-miss-it references and cameos. It's fun - especially if you're a TRON fan!

Deleted Scenes - Play All (2:18)

1. Seth's Date (0:44) - Eve calls Seth while she's at the gas station and asks for his help. (And he's on a date.)
2. Burning Man (0:44) - This is a slightly extended version of Eve trying to get Ares past the guard of their building. (With some cheesy dialog.)
3. Lisberger Cameo (0:41) - Ares and Eve get into a van and the original director of the 1982 movie TRON, Steven Lisberger, is in the back. He falls out as they steal the van and peel out.

Basically, all of the deleted scenes are pretty throw-away and were wise cuts. The featurettes are all pretty good, but many of them feel more like promos for the movie and less like behind-the-scenes features. The "Cast Conversations" was one of the most fun here, but it was truly wasted potential. At less than 5 minutes in length, I have a hard time believing what they cut together was the only worthwhile footage they had from three separate cast duo interviews.

- John DiBiase, (reviewed: 12/4/25)




 

Parental Guide: Content Summary


 Sex/Nudity: None.
 Vulgarity/Language: 1 "S" word, 1 "g*dd*mn," 4 "h*ll," 7 "Oh my G-d," 3 "d*mn," 1 "G-d," 1 "Oh G-d," 1 "My G-d"
 Alcohol/Drugs: Julian is seen drinking a beer; There are drinks mixed with orange juice in champagne flutes on a plane; Some other people appear to have drinks.
 Blood/Gore: Eve has a little bit of blood on her face; Ares has some blood on his forehead; We see Athena derezz a couple times, turning to ash and falling apart; A human character is impaled by a pointed light disc. We see the victim lying on the ground after being stabbed, slowly dying, with what looks like burn marks on their clothing, instead of blood.
 Violence: When we see Ares being created, we see his body slowly forming in little cubes and pixels; Ares fights many programs in a training simulator and we see his victims breaking apart into tiny digital bits and pieces; When characters like Ares and Athena derezz, their skin turns gray and they fall apart like ash and digital cubes; A big light-disc fight breaks out between programs and many of them are stabbed and slashed and we see them break apart into little tiny glowing digital cubes. One character loses their leg and another character runs to their aid; We see Athena derezz a couple times, turning to ash and falling apart; A light cycle chase happens on the city streets, causing some mayhem. Eve crashes her bike into Athena, who then chases Eve on foot; A human character is impaled by a pointed light disc. We see the victim lying on the ground after being stabbed, slowly dying, with what looks like burn marks on their clothing, instead of blood; A man is thrown across a room and slams into a wall, getting knocked out; Athena grabs Eve by the throat, threatening her; A gigantic recognizer shoots missiles in a city, causing some destruction. Some jets fire on it, setting one of the legs on fire; Flying drones make light trails that cause the wings of a plane to be torn off; The recognizer shoots down a helicopter; A big light transport vehicle barrels down the streets of a city, crashing into things and causing destruction; A digital character's hand is cut off and we see the glowing stump with little digital cubes falling off; A character puts their hands on a disc and as a digital field slowly consumes their body, they scream as the screen fades to black. And other sci-fi action violence.

 

Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer's opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer's overall rating.

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