Tron: Ares
Tron: Ares is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Rated PG-13. Common Sense says 13+
A highly sophisticated program, Ares (Jared Leto), is sent by his creator (Evan Peters) from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission.
STORY: C-
A fun, sci-fi tale that skips a key step.
Change is an essential part of a story. Every story needs three parts: Before, During, and After. Skip one, and you’re toast.
The biggest flaw in Tron: Ares is that we meet Ares just as the “During” portion kicks off. Without the “Before,” we miss out on why the character needs to change, which is the whole reason for the story in the first place.
It would be like The Hunger Games starting when Katniss starts her training, or jumping into How to Train Your Dragon once Hiccup’s already become besties with Toothless. Even though they’re great stories, something would feel very off without their beginnings.
PEOPLE: C+
These performances are totally fine!
Jared Leto’s stiff, stunted performance actually fits his character well: a computer program turned Pinocchio, a robot yearning to be real.
Greta Lee ably bounces back and forth between damsel in distress and scrappy, idealistic techno-genius.
It’s Evan Peters’s turn as a techno-sociopath Icarus that steals the show. This film needed a jolt of energy, and (thankfully) Peters delivers.
FILM NERD STUFF: B
I see your true colors.
Why did the filmmakers color the futuristic Grid red? Sure, it’s stylish, but it’s also symbolic.
The dazzling reds are harsher, sleeker, and more impersonal than the neon colors that colonized seemingly every film made in the 1980s. The color represents modern technology, one that’s much more dangerous today than when the original Tron was made.
ONE BIG LESSON: C-
You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?
That’s a line from stand-up comic legend, Steven Wright. He may not have been talking about the dangers of world domination, but Tron: Ares is.
I wouldn’t call Tron:Ares anti-tech, but it is warning us how dangerous tech can be when wielded by people bent on world domination. Hopefully, we’ll be able to fill our new forms of technology with humanity.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Critics have scoffed, but most audiences will love Tron: Ares’s stylish, sci-fi action. It’s a flawed, fun, large, loud movie meant to be enjoyed on the biggest screen possible. Tron completists: jump on your hoverbikes and fly to the theater.