Tron: Ares – Rival companies Encom and Dillinger Systems can bring digital programmes into the real world. It’s a race against time to discover the ‘permanence code’ which will allow these programmes to remain ‘real’ indefinitely. Dillinger’s programme ‘Ares’ dutifully completes his orders but begins to doubt his master when he sees just how expendable he and his companions are. Who will prevail and will Ares break his programming for the side he believes will use it for good?    

Tron: Ares (2025) – Director: Joachim Rønning

Rating: 12A

Running Length:  119 mins

Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller

REVIEW: TRON: ARES

‘Tron’ is an undisputed 80’s classic, with its ground-breaking special effects and fascinating story. The long awaited 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy deeply disappointed audiences as it prioritised impressive but campy visuals over the plot. So, what would the second sequel ‘Tron: Ares’ bring us? Well it would appear that the filmmakers are keen to bring back the essence of the original while bringing the whole franchise up to date – which is essential in our current tech-mad world!

With plenty of references to the original (including plenty of par-for-the-course exciting Light Cycle scenes), ‘Tron: Ares’ is a visual treat that uses modern technological advances to bring everything right up to date. The musical score by Nine Inch Nails is loud and relentless but keeps everything moving along at a good pace and heightens the tension.

Much as Leto is not exactly a lead that draws audiences on star power, his as Depeche Mode-loving Ares and Lee’s Eve are great leads that work equally well separately as together. Peters as Julian Dillinger is a brilliant baddie who makes his character 3 dimensional where in lesser hands could become whiny and immature. However, special mention must go to Jodie Turner-Smith as programme ‘Athena’ who follows her orders to the letter – a straight-faced character can often be dull but she manages to be arguably the most interesting character on screen.

‘Tron: Ares’ first and foremost is visually and musically cool and thankfully everything else comes together to make it an excellent film – blowing ‘Tron: Legacy’ out of the water.

CONTENT: IS ‘TRON: ARES’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A man wearing a black mask fights several opponents at once with a circular bladed weapon. Whenever one is hit, they disintegrate into pixels.

When programmes that exist in the real world come to the end of their ‘life’ there, the process of them ‘dying’ is visibly agonising. This happens several time and could be distressing for younger kids. However, these characters are seen unfazed back in the digital world.

When attacking another system, Ares and his comrades fight other programmes. One of Ares’ friends is killed during the skirmish and permanently deleted – leading him to realise that he and everyone else is expendable.

There are videos of a woman who gets progressively more ill until she passes away. A loved one is deeply upset by this.

There is an exciting scene where a major character is aggressively chased. The audience knows she will likely be killed if caught and her pursuer is always right on her heels.

A character is killed callously then there is a close-up of their body shortly afterwards.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘TRON: ARES’ FOR KIDS?

There’s no denying that ‘Tron: Ares’ is a cool movie – the visuals and musical score alone are enough to make most of us happy. There is little in terms of the content to upset kids apart from the painful ‘death’ scenes (although these are not a lot different to those in the original ‘Tron’) but it will probably be of more interest to the tech-savvy older kids who will love the aesthetics of the film. Therefore we would recommend this film for kids aged 9 and over.

• Violence: 2/5 (several exciting fight scenes, a police car that gets in the way of a light cycle chase is sliced in half although the men inside are unhurt. A character is stabbed and killed although little blood is shown)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (a loved one of the murdered character is grief-stricken and cradles them as they die. The death of Eve’s sister has effected her deeply and she still mourns for her)
• Fear Factor: 2/5
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 2/5 (mostly mild cursing and blasphemy – a couple of more moderate words are used)
• Dialogue: 1/5
• Other Notes: deals with themes of humanity, being the best, greed, servitude and friendship.

Words by Laura Record