The Pissed Take - Tron: Ares

TRON: ARES -or- PRON: TESTES AKA Here we go again... again.

Release Date 10Oct2025

TRON: ARES is the third film in the TRON franchise started in 1982. It includes a TV show, a short film, and several video games.

All of them involve shenanigans wherein the main character(s) use a laser to beam themselves into a computer and interact with anthropomorphic software. In 1982, at the beginning of personal computing—amongst other things—this concept was not only novel but brought up questions about humanity and the ascendence of machine as well as corporate exploitation of both. It was neat stuff, even though it wasn’t the STAR WARS breakout Disney wanted.

How a movie released 43 years ago manages to be both smarter and worth more of your time is absurd. Adjusted for inflation, the original Tron's budget is about 35% of this one.

NO SPOILERS!

The Dillinger Corporation has created new military tech that could 3D print an army. Meet ARES, a security program and MCP of the Dillinger system, here to wow the brass. Unbeknownst to prospective clients, these ready-made roughnecks can only hang out in our world for 29 minutes. What they need is permanence... the f#ckery commences.

This movie is dumber than baking a rubber chicken. Nothing really matters, no matter how much you are told repeatedly that it does. You are told things are important instead of being given a reason to believe they are A LOT. Suspension of disbelief should not be required to absorb a story. The story itself should make suspension easy by creating/inviting immersion.

This movie forces you to turn off your brain and look at the pretty lights and brain-crushing NIN soundtrack so many times I was surprised there weren't corpses in the theater by the credits. To its credit, it is far more energetic than TRON: LEGACY. However, it shares the 2010 movie's penchant for style over substance, and woo AF philosophising.

Jared Leto's dead-eyed method bullsh#t does actually work here. Though, this doesn’t make the movie any better, with zero chemistry between the leads, a plot cobbled together from a 10-minute "What if" session and whip-its, a blender full of sci-fi tropes and Draino, and no reason to come back for more.

I love Tron, but don't love Disney's latest exercise in testing brand elasticity. Gross.

THE GOOD:

Jared Leto makes sense here as a soulless corporate product. The visual effects and sound design are superb—made for the big screen. The NIN score is fine if uneven. Though the tracks TARGET IDENTIFIED and especially I KNOW YOU CAN FEEL IT that plays over the "Light skimmer" scene F#CKING BANGS! Lit the movie up. The movie is certainly energetic, an improvement over Legacy.

THE BAD:

Jared Leto is a soulless corporate product. He apparently is a big reason this previously shelved movie got back into production. It shows. No cast chemistry, no reason to make this a largely standalone entry with weak connection to previous entries. A fine but forgettable soundtrack from NIN that belongs in another movie. DAFT PUNK's score from 2010 is complete, distinct, and far superior. Completely wasting Jeff Bridges in an obviously tacked-on nostalgia wank. Nostalgia callbacks are cheap, lazy, and insulting-especially when know f#ckall about why people care. The Depeche Mode jokes... F#ck off.

SEE IT:

Sure, the theatrical presentation is worth 2 hours of innagaddadavida, if you're bored. Though its mileage after the fact is debatable. STREAM HO!!!

DON'T SEE IT:

Look, if you're going to rig up and shoot toilet bowl cleaner, you're gonna. Same thing for anything else. However, if the safe bet becomes the risk, the money will start taking chances again. Stories will become special again when they're allowed to end.