Tron: Ares

Official Australian release date: 9/10/25. Viewed: 9/10/25.
Director: Joachim Ronning
Actors: Greta Lee, Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

‘Tron: Ares’ is the third film in the video-game/pre-‘Matrix’ series that revolves around “the Grid” (effectively cyberspace) and the competing companies controlling it, Encom and Dillinger (effectively Microsoft & Google) and their CEOs trying to take the next leap forward in AI – Eve Kim (Lee) and Julian Dillinger (Peters). I assume you don’t need to have seen the 1982 original or 2010’s ‘Tron: Legacy’, but there’s plenty of throwbacks and linkages, even if this isn’t a direct sequel.

So many cameos/supporting cast that all add something, but don’t get heaps of time = Julian’s mum, Elisabeth (Anderson), Eve’s CTO Ajay (Minhaj) & COO Seth (Castro), and obviously Kevin Flynn (Bridges), which is handled quite well. The main plot revolves around a security program, Ares (Leto) that tries to obtain “permanence” in the real-world, and his other Dillinger program Athena (Turner-Smith). Leto is actually not bad, with his still-somehow-youthful face perfect for an AI, and he has a few lines that get a few chuckles.

While there’s plenty of similarities to ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and ‘Ready Player One’, and arguably not as good, ‘Tron: Ares’ does deliver some very impressive CGI, with vivid colour, fast-paced action – especially on the motorbikes and jetski – and some engaging fight scenes. The final act set piece is pretty epic, especially when paired with the strong Reznor/Ross score. All wrapped-up in under 2 hours.

Overall: Better than I was expecting!

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars