Why does Jared Leto continue to work? There are constant reports of his terrorizing of his coworkers, his method actor mood swings, and dozens of allegations of sexual assault, including with minors. He’s a freak and a terrible actor, and yet here he is, the lead of the new $180 million Tron film. Disney is staking the continuation of this franchise on Jared Leto? Are we sure this isn’t a Producers situation? Unfortunately, casting a competent non-rapist would not be enough to save Tron: Ares, a boring, pointless slog hellbent on doing the exact opposite of what makes Tron potentially interesting. This is a franchise going zero for three, and at some point Disney needs to admit that neon frisbees do not a compelling story make.
Tron: Ares opens fifteen years after the events of Tron: Legacy, which do not factor into the plot. Garret Hedlund and Jeff Bridges are nowhere to be seen, leaving behind two rival tech companies vying for power from the world of the Grid. A reminder – the computer world is called the Grid, not Tron. Tron is a guy, and he is not in this movie. On one side we have the villainous Dillinger Systems, led by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), grandson of the film’s original bad guy. He’s working on bringing digital soldiers and weaponry into the real world, though his programs only last for 29 minutes before screaming and dying horribly, dissolving into bits and dust. He’s opposed by Eve Kim (Greta Lee, trying her best to salvage this thing), head of ENCOM, trying to find the secret “permanence code” left behind by Flynn that could circumvent the 29 minute problem and radically reshape the world. The film takes a full half hour to establish this murky, boring premise.
Ares (Leto) is Julian’s Master Control, leading the operatives into the real world to do his bidding. Allegedly we are watching Ares become sentient as he experiences reality, but you wouldn’t know it from Leto’s wooden performance. All he seems capable of is staring morosely at the screen, walking around with his wet hair while Jodie Turner-Smith acts circles around him. Why couldn’t she just play Ares? She could have just played every program; that would have been actually interesting.
What we want from Tron is cool looking races inside the computer while masked acrobats throw discs at each other with light trails streaming behind them. Ares brings everyone into the real world, which is portrayed as dark, bland, and colorless. It’s a shocking misread of why anyone tolerates Tron. The film’s climax features a large ship flying extremely slowly over Vancouver in a sequence where no one even dies. The programs can’t kill ANYONE with the light trails? The fighter pilots get to eject? These choices take away any semblance of stakes. We’re asked to care if Jared Leto can become a normal guy, something no one has ever wanted to see. Isn’t this supposed to be about gladiator games inside a computer?
Nine Inch Nails’ score is nice and loud, tricking you into thinking what’s happening on screen isn’t deeply boring and cliche. Hilariously, Tron: Ares ends on a couple sequel hooks, presupposing that there are people looking forward to the return of Olivia Wilde. No such person exists. But if they’re insistent on drawing blood from a stone, maybe get box office poison Jared Leto out of the way.
Tron: Ares
2025
Dir. Joachim Rønning
119 min
Tron: Ares is in theaters now
