Tron: Ares

I don't write reviews often, but I feel like I need to on this one. After seeing the critic reviews for TRON: Ares, I thought it would be a boring (or at least empty) movie. However, I found the storyline interesting, and found myself paying attention for the duration of the film.

As some might remember, TRON: Legacy was met with terrible reviews when it came out back in 2010, and audiences received it poorly as well, making it a box office flop. Now, however, I think most will agree that it's a classic. Unfortunately, I fear the same may happen with TRON: Ares. Just to be clear: I liked it a lot. The soundtrack was good, the visuals were stunning, and the acting was solid. Could it have been "better"? Sure, but a movie of this nature could realistically only peak at about an 8/10, so being a 7/10 is really good. GO SEE IT! It's absolutely worth the ticket price to see it in 3D or IMAX.

In anticipation of Tron: Ares, I rewatched the original Tron (it definitely shows its age, but still earns a solid 8/10 from me for the impact it had on the genre) and Tron: Legacy (still my favorite of the three). Naturally, my expectations for Ares were high.

When I heard Jared Leto had been cast as one of the leads, I was disappointed-he's never really delivered for me, with his Joker performance being the low point. Surprisingly, though, he impressed this time. He was convincing, grounded, and even held his own in scenes with Jeff Bridges.

What Tron: Ares ultimately lacks, however, is soul. Unlike the previous films, I couldn't connect or empathize with any of the characters. What's left is a dazzling visual experience-absolutely worth seeing in IMAX 3D-with a pulsing, energetic soundtrack.

But once the credits roll and you step out of the theater, it's completely forgettable.

'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.

I really enjoyed Tron: Ares, despite the mixed reviews. Experiencing it in IMAX definitely enhanced the film - the visuals and soundtrack were truly impressive. The CGI and overall visual design were stunning, and the music perfectly complemented the atmosphere. Without the IMAX experience, I can see how some might rate it lower, but you can't deny the film's visual beauty and strong audio presentation.

I'm a big fan of the Tron franchise and I was skeptical of this film as I'm not a big Jared Leto fan at all and I don't like him as a person so I didn't want to take that into account for the film. I think overall the movie is quite decent for the most part and there's some absolutely astonishing and riveting visuals which just left me honestly shocked at how incredible they truly were in this film. There's some absolutely gorgeous scenes throughout the movie with the amazing visuals. The soundtrack for this movie is absolutely amazing as well and it feels absolutely incredible with the stunning visuals throughout the movie as well and I love how loud the soundtrack is as well! I think Jared Leto gives a decent performance and although I don't like him as a person he's definitely solid in the film and Greta Lee is also pretty good too in this film. Let me get into my negatives now there's some pretty bad writing for the most part and some of it's laughably bad with how bad some of it is especially in some specific scenes which I know weren't meant to be funny but they absolutely were hilarious due to this bad writing. The story is also all over the place and it just feels so incredibly plain and predictable and I hated how predictable this movie truly was and I felt like it was just trying to be too simple with this story. Also the villain in this movie played by Evan Peters is pretty laughably stupid and just not that interesting as well due to the fact he's a complete idiot. I just don't like the direction this film went at all and I feel like they are trying to set up some multiple movies here and maybe I'll be interested to check it out but man it's just disappointing after all these years to get this film compared to the first two Tron movies. This is still a decent film but left me severely underwhelmed and I hope whatever direction they go in is better than this.