Tron: Ares

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.

The visuals in Tron: Ares are absolutely stunning - every frame feels like a piece of digital art. But sadly, the writing doesn't live up to the visuals. The story feels rushed and underdeveloped, like the project was pushed out too soon. Despite the massive budget and strong cast, weak writing drags everything down - even great actors can't shine when the script lacks depth.

I watched the 1st Tron movie at the theater when it originally came out, as I did with Tron: Legacy which I also loved even when everyone else was trashing it. So much so, that when I was able to I bought a 110" screen and 3D projector and Dolby Atmos surround system to play my own Blu Ray of Tron: Legacy in 3D whenever I felt like being sucked into the Grid and it is still an event every single time I watch it.

Since then I've built up a sizeable collection of 3D movies including Gravity, Dredd, both Avatars, every Marvel 3D movie and any others I could find, and Tron: Legacy is still is one of the most immersive movies I've ever seen. It is also by far the most re-watchable 3D movie. And I should know. I've watched it countless times. It is one of my all time favourite movies.

Immersion and soundtrack aside, the father/son story line resonates with anyone with a complex father/son relationship both as a father and as a son. It also had some stand out complex characters like CLU who although being a totally digital character is given a distinct personality through Jeff Bridges superb voice acting. At the final confrontation with Kevin Flynn you can feel the pain in CLUs voice.

Add to that Sam, Quorra, the weasly Jarvis, and one of my favourites, Micheal Sheens Castor and Legacy is packed with personality, and emotion and the ending provided a perfect opening for the next Tron movie.

There was a ready made story there just begging to be written.

Instead the executives seemed to have concluded that all they had to do was pack the new movie with CGI and a banging soundtrack, drag Jeff Bridges in for a token appearance, sprinkle a pinch of nostalgia from 82, and shoehorn a storyline that left Legacy stuck in the Grid forever to somehow drag the corpse of Tron to the end credits and concoct yet another money milking never ending storyline franchise.

And this was after Tron: Legacy was finally getting the recognition it deserved with increasing watch alongs and favorable reviews on Youtube over the last few years. And these watch alongs and reviews weren't even of the 3D surround sound version. Take the 3D and surround sound out and Legacy is still a great movie in it's own right.

Tron Ares is a trademark Disney visually stunning, awesomely sounding 2 hours of nothing. Take the 3D IMAX experience out and there's really nothing memorable there except for the soundtrack which Legacy also outshines with a pitch perfect soundtrack and the seamless way Daft Punks cameo slotted into the Tron universe. With plastic cookie cutter characters, one-liners that fall flat on their face and not a single memorable line that I could quote off the top of my head Ares is near forgettable once you exit the theater.

Judging by the comments the high ratings of Tron: Ares now are overwhelmingly influenced by the 3D IMAX experience and that's understandable. And despite my obvious disappointment and critique of Tron: Ares, it is still worth watching in IMAX 3D because it is a visual treat. Watch it and judge for yourself. Others have watched and enjoyed it, and you may too. It's just a shame that it's such a massive jarring misstep for fans of Legacy. It's like watching the first half of a soccer match, waiting 15 years for the second half only to find that it will be completed with a rugby match instead. Sure the two halves may be somewhat entertaining, and connected because they both involve two teams playing with balls but the entire match becomes an infuriating meaningless farce.

After a 28 year gap, Legacy STILL managed to tie itself to the original film AND take it in a new direction where fans were prepared to follow the story of Sam and Quora. Two characters who had nothing to do with the first movie.

And with a mere 15 year gap by comparison, Ares couldn't even manage any of that. It failed to do what Legacy had already done. If any character deserved to enter the real world after the ending of Legacy in search of Sam and Quora it was Tron. If Kevin Flynn could be brought back after the ending of Legacy, then bringing Tron into the real world should have been a piece of cake.

Even as a Tron fan I know that the story has limited appeal and can only go so far. The 1st Tron explored the Grid. The second introduced the possibility of the digital world entering the real world and the effects of that on humanity.

And the 3rd should have been about just that and in the process tying all the loose ends and wrapping the story up. The last in the Tron Trilogy. A final confrontation between a version of AI that elevates humanity against the kind of AI that dominates it. The battle of Utopia vs Dystopia. Tron, Quora and Sam Flynn on one side versus Edward Dillinger, the MCP and Ares on the other.

I would in fact have marketed it as the last Tron movie. A 43 year saga coming to a close and in doing so being incredibly relevant to one of the biggest issues facing humanity right now: At a time where even the developers of AI have no consensus on its future impact, what if both versions battled for supremacy and where would that leave us? It could have been a mind blowing philosophical yet entertaining masterpiece blended into an audio visual extravaganza and gone out with an absolute bang with real world impact on the discussion over AI.

Following that ending if popularity demanded it then Disney could always then branch off in a "new direction" with Ares, an ISOs origin story, a following on from Tron: Uprising or whatever else. I know I'm suffering from franchise fatigue and just can't follow all these endless meandering universes anymore.

Disney are addicted to trying to turn every franchise into an MCU style endless money sucking saga. You're supposed to be making blockbuster movies, not a TV series for the big screen. Make it a trilogy, or at most a quadrilogy and bring the story to a close. Sadly, it may be too late for Tron because Disney may have ended up killing off their own franchise.

Well done Disney you overvalued useless organization. You've done it again.

You're really messing with my Zen thing man.

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.

I guess I got what I was expecting from the film when I watched it on the big screen. I was just hoping it would exceed my expectations, that it would build on and progress further from the preceding 2010 film, which already had the great potential or foundation of not relying on the visuals/aesthetics alone.

I echo the same sentiments from early reviews that the film lacked much from the character depth perspective. It does not serve emotionally, but delivers on the visuals. What I love most is when it took the prior Tron films' aesthetics in a different setting - that was really cool! Love the soundtrack as well!

Overall, mostly the visuals and sound kept my attention, but all other aspects were kind of flat.

Looking forward to the next one, which I hope would not solely rely on visuals/aesthetics.