121 min | PG-13 | October 10, 2025 | Walt Disney Pictures
Joachim Rønning sends a program from the Grid into the real world. Jared Leto plays AI made flesh. The visuals are stunning. The story is hollow.
TRON: Legacy was a visual feast with minimal narrative substance. TRON: Ares follows the same path. A program named Ares escapes the Grid and enters the real world. He must navigate human society while pursued by forces from both worlds. The premise allows for spectacular visuals and fish-out-of-water comedy. The film delivers the first and fumbles the second.
Jared Leto plays Ares with restrained physicality. He is a program learning to be human and Leto finds moments of genuine curiosity in the performance. The character never develops beyond that basic concept. Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith all play humans who help or hinder Ares with roles that are functional but never memorable. Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn and provides continuity without adding substance. The supporting cast exists to facilitate plot rather than create character.
Joachim Rønning directed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and knows how to stage spectacle. The Grid sequences are gorgeous. The production design creates a digital world with visual coherence and style. The real-world sequences are shot with sleek surfaces and neon lighting that maintains the TRON aesthetic. The Nine Inch Nails score does essential work creating atmosphere and energy. But the whole thing is surface over substance.
Jesse Wigutow’s script has ideas about AI consciousness and the boundary between digital and physical reality. The film never explores those ideas with depth or intelligence. This is a visual showcase that needed a stronger narrative foundation. The film looks incredible. It just has nothing meaningful to say beneath the gorgeous imagery.