Tron: Ares (2025) Review: This Movie Shouldnt’ Be Produce

It must be admitted that Tron: Ares made a great first impression based on its trailer and visuals. However, this perception changed after watching the entire film, which ended disappointingly and failed to improve on the positive impression of the 2010 film.

There are many aspects to criticize about Tron: Ares, a spin-off of Tron Legacy and a return to a futuristic world. While it showed some improvements in action, the film failed to elevate the quality of the acting and the chemistry of the cast.

After watching Tron: Ares, many viewers felt the film should never have been made. After sitting through 119 minutes, the only thing that could be praised was the beautiful and stunning visuals with their masterful color combination.

Just like the 2010 film, Tron: Ares continues to focus on Kevin Flynn’s highly advanced technology. This development allows capitalism to create artificial intelligence as a product it wants to showcase to the public.

Therefore, two major companies are competing for the top spot in achieving this feat. Dellinger System is led by Julian Dellinger (Evan Peters) and ENCOM is led by Eve Kim (Greta Lee) with different goals.

Envious, Julian wanted to execute Kim, who had discovered a discovery one step ahead of his own. Therefore, Julian created the Master Control program, Ares (Jared Leto), who could be transferred from the digital world, or The Grid, to the real world to hunt Kim down.

The first time we saw Ares, his facial expression felt odd. As a computer program, Jesse Wigutou’s script supported Ares’ role as a robot with a stiff, cold appearance, but also a desire to appear human.

Ares’ role certainly reminded audiences of Quorra from Tron: Legacy, who had similar traits and developed interactions with humans. However, the difference was that Jared Leto’s Ares still looked like a rockstar singer with long hair and minimal interaction with the human environment.

Referring to Quorra, she developed a romantic relationship with Sam, creating a sense of chemistry, although it wasn’t resolved until the film’s end. Meanwhile, Ares and Kim only had a brief, awkward conversation when the program first entered the human world and returned to the action.

The limited screen time together means that the chemistry between Ares and Kim isn’t strong, and it’s only interesting to watch a line or two. Fortunately, Kim has a specific role and task in the film’s culminating conflict against her antagonist.

Besides the beautiful visuals, director Joachim Rönning also successfully enhanced the action compared to the 2010 film. From gunfights and motorcycle chases to more sophisticated combat equipment, this film is less boring.

The more fight scenes involving Ares make this film more engaging, as the 2010 film featured mostly motorcycle chases. These action scenes also give Kim the opportunity to showcase herself not only as an intelligent character but also as a capable self-defense expert.

Unfortunately, Kim is only given a relatively short amount of time in the action scenes, with Ares, the main character, taking over the rest of the action. Rather than designing a computer program, Kim should have been given more opportunities to participate in the action scenes.

Meanwhile, several supporting characters don’t significantly impact the story and the conflict. Their presence is little more than filling in the dialogue with a few jokes between Kim and Ares, without significantly impacting the conflict.

Seth Flores (Arturo Castro) and Ajay Singh (Hasan Minhaj), Kim’s employees at ENCOM, are among them. Even though they were involved at the peak of the conflict, honestly, Kim could have played both roles himself rather than just filling a few short frames in a scene.

The same thing can be seen in the character of Erin (Sarah Desjardins), another of Kim’s employees at ENCOM who takes center stage. Despite appearing as one of ENCOM’s program technicians, she rarely speaks, merely following Ajay around.

Meanwhile, the antagonist, played by Julian Dellinger, successfully portrays a greedy and domineering young entrepreneur. However, his character’s conclusion isn’t reflected in the climax of the conflict, and he’s merely a bystander in the robot battle.

The interpersonal relationship between Julian and his mother, Elisabeth Dellinger (Gillian Anderson), is also a failing that falls short of its intended purpose. Elisabeth’s death has little impact on Julian and his ongoing conflict.

Overall, the film fails to maximize the script’s potential and elevate the conflict between its characters, leaving behind beautiful visuals to behold.

6/10