The plot: Mankind encounters AI beings for the first time when a highly sophisticated programme, Ares, leaves the digital world for a dangerous mission in the real world.
Tron Ares was underwhelming.
Pros: It does still succeed being a visual spectacle. I like the new music from Nine Inch Nails. Jared Leto were OK as the lead. Greta Lee was impressive in her role & The fights were really fun.
It works as a spectacle instead of a full story.
Cons: The storyline wasn’t that well told. It didn’t execute the promise of merging the digital world with our world. A lot of talented actors not used to their full potential. Not a lot of the grid. No appearances from Sam Flynn or Quorra. A lack of baddies to get angry at & The script wasn’t that good.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Directed by Joachim Rønning
Produced by Jared Leto, Steven Lisberger, Emma Ludbrook, Sean Bailey, Justin Springer, Jeffrey Silver
Screenplay by Jesse Wigutow
Story by David Digilio, Jesse Wigutow
Based on Characters by Steven Lisberger, Bonnie MacBird
Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson & Jeff Bridges.
Music by Nine Inch Nails
Edited by Tyler Nelson
Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth
Music by Nine Inch Nails
Production companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Sean Bailey Productions
Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Cast:
- Jared Leto as Ares, a super-intelligent program created by Julian Dillinger
- Greta Lee as Eve Kim, the current chief executive officer (CEO) of ENCOM who is in search of Kevin Flynn’s permanence code
- Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger, the CEO of Dillinger Systems and grandson of Ed Dillinger
- Jodie Turner-Smith as Athena, a program second-in-command to Ares
- Hasan Minhaj as Ajay Singh, Eve’s business partner and chief technology officer (CTO) of ENCOM
- Arturo Castro as Seth Flores, a colleague and friend of Eve
- Gillian Anderson as Elisabeth Dillinger, Julian’s mother and daughter of Ed Dillinger
- Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, the former CEO of ENCOM who previously sacrificed himself in the Grid
- Cameron Monaghan as Caius, a combat program and member of Ares’ elite special forces unit
- Sarah Desjardins as Erin, an ENCOM employee and Ajay’s assistant
- Selene Yun as Tess Kim, Eve’s deceased sister
- Aaron Paul Stewart as Cyber Security Pete
- Roger Cross as Cross, a high-end executive at ENCOM, and Julian Dillinger’s right-hand.
- Roark Critchlow as General McGrath, a member of the military that attended Julian Dillinger’s pitch
- Katharine Isabelle as Marcia Lee Hadlow, an attendee of Julian Dillinger’s pitch
- Gary Vaynerchuk as Stuart Roche, an attendee of Julian Dillinger’s pitch
- Kwesi Ameyaw as Silvio
Additionally, Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross cameo as two F-35 pilots sent to subdue Athena during the film’s climax. Shannon Leto, brother of Jared Leto and co-founder of Thirty Seconds to Mars, makes a brief appearance as a pizza parlor patron who witnesses the climax. Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde make uncredited cameo appearances as Sam Flynn and Quorra, reprising their roles from Tron: Legacy, via archival photos. Archive audio of David Warner as the original Master Control Program is repurposed from Tron.
Reporters Robin Roberts, Kara Swisher, Curt Sandoval, Jaclyn Lee, Trevour Ault, and Zohreen Shah, appear as themselves, as does computer scientist Fei-Fei Li.
I still recommend this film for the spectacular technicality used.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe