TRON: ARES

Synopsis: 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. 

Movie Review: 

"TRON: ARES" is helmed by Joachim Ronning and marks the third installment in this sci-fi franchise that kicked off in 1982. After a 15-year gap since the 2010 sequel, they bring us a visually stunning film packed with action and an upbeat soundtrack that whisks you back into this world. However, the dull storyline and one-dimensional characters left me feeling disappointed, making it just an average experience at the theater. Jared Leto takes on the role of Ares, a program created to be the ultimate soldier. He delivers a solid performance, even though his character lacks depth and emotion. Still, there are some thrilling action sequences that are a blast to watch. Greta Lee portrays Eve Kim, the CEO of a tech company named ENCOM. Her performance is decent, but her character feels flat and uninteresting, complete with a generic tragic backstory that didn’t resonate with me, despite a few standout moments in the film. I appreciated the effort to expand the lore and the grid's universe with intriguing ideas and concepts, which has me looking forward to the franchise's future and likely another sequel. Evan Peters plays Jullian Dillinger, the villainous CEO of the movie. While I usually enjoy his work, I found his performance here to be the weakest, as he comes off as loud, silly, and cheesy, embodying a typical spoiled rich kid that bored me. Even though the supporting cast, including Villain Anderson, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minaj, Arturo Castro, and Sarah Desjardins, is incredibly talented, their characters felt underutilized, reduced to delivering forced, unfunny comedy. It was a treat to see Jeff Bridges return as Kevin Flynn, which was both fitting and nostalgic, even if it was just for a single scene. In the end, despite the fantastic visuals and a great soundtrack, the uneven script and lackluster characters made this an average movie. I’m giving "TRON: ARES" a 3 out of 5 stars.

Director: Joachim Ronning 

Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner Smith, Arturo Castro, Hasan Minhaj, Sarah Desjardins, Catherine Haena Kim, Cameron Monaghan with Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges 

Runtime: 119 Minutes