Tron Returns and a New Generation Fights Over the Future of the World

Do androids dream of electric sheep? Hard to say — but in Tron: Ares, a dazzling, vapid laser lightshow masquerading as a pensive action sci-fi spectacle, the corporeal digital beings sure do love Depeche Mode. They also physically expire after 29 minutes before regenerating back inside their computer homestead, which bestows an accelerated Replicant patina to Disney’s Matrix/Blade Runner mash-up and offers just a hint of depth. Don’t worry, it doesn’t distract from the light-cycle mayhem.

Tron: Ares is the third film in a slow-roll franchise that started with Tron in 1982 and was last seen on screens with 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Consider this latest entry a “soft reboot,” like powering down your buggy laptop for a clean restart. Those who don’t remember anything from the previous two movies will appreciate a whirling-dervish recap at the beginning, where a monochromatic graph-paper landscape surges and undulates with various digitally conjured newscasters explaining the basic premise. Brace for Kara Swisher re-rendered as a 21st century Max Headroom.

TRON: ARES ★★★ (3/5 stars)
Directed by: Joachim Rønning
Written by: Jesse Wigutow
Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges
Running time: 119 mins

The original Tron, made with groundbreaking CGI at the dawn of the modern computer era, explored the tension between rogue ENCOM video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and nefarious ENCOM exec Ed Dillinger (David Warner) after a particle laser scans Flynn’s body into the company’s mainframe computer system — aka “the Grid.” Once he became a digital ghost in the machine, Kevin had to fight his way to freedom in a series of gladiatorial contests which involved deadly high-tech frisbees as well as the aforementioned light cycles, which leave a ribbon of residue that box in opponents. Tron: Legacy followed Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) as he discovered his missing father in the grid.

And Tron: Ares honors both storylines, explaining that Sam has now disappeared as well, while in the successive years, genius sisters Eve Kim (Greta Lee) and her recently deceased sister Tess Kim (Selene Yun) took over ENCOM. Their goal: beneficent technology that uplifts humanity. Also, a smash-hit video game called Space Paranoids. Meanwhile, long-dead Ed Dillinger has his own legacy, in the form of grandson Julian (Evan Peters), a sociopathic Silicon Valley CEO who runs tech security firm Dillinger Systems with a ruthless disregard for safety or decency.

Dillinger has cracked the code that allows for the physical rendering of complex digital designs in the real world — software rendered into hardware, all with the help of high-power particle laser beams that manifest huge black mounds of carbon cocoons that shake off to reveal sleek futuristic robot soldiers and military machinery. Think 3D printing, but for World War III. The only hitch: that pesky 29-minute duration before all physically rendered A.I. creations dissolve into charred embers.

But Eve has discovered a stabilizing solution — two lines of code, to be exact, intertwined like DNA — otherwise known as the Permanence Code. The programming was Tess’ final work before she succumbed to cancer, and Eve can now use it to solve all of the world’s problems: medical, agricultural, you name it. Unless Julian steals it to foster global conflict and become the richest war profiteer in history.

OK, enough with the exposition. Julian bad, Eve good. Julian sends A.I. to destroy Eve and get the Permanence Code. Expect A.I. light cycles chasing Ducati motorcycles, and Terminator style A.I. soldiers — specifically ruthless Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) — to hunt her down with extreme prejudice.

Did I mention Ares yet? Jared Leto plays the titular character, a wan-looking super-soldier with forlorn eyes who has a soulful perspective on the world. He’s a yearning agentic creation who glumly obeys Julian, until he senses the ineffable joy of raindrops and ’80s synth pop. The movie name-checks Frankenstein and Pinocchio for good reason, as it tries desperately to give more resonance to the paper-thin Ares and his aching need to shake off his master’s shackles and become human.

The filmmakers behind Tron: Ares clearly adore the Tron universe — not wisely, but too well. The various virtual worlds are stunningly rendered, from the red-glowing menace of the Dillinger Grid to the cool-blue utopia of the ENCOM Grid to the old-school 16-bit vibes of the classic Flynn Grid. They even throw in a holographic Flynn, so Bridges can return to drop some Lebowski-inflected hippie philosophizing. All the neon hijinks are an immersive hoot, especially set to the throbbingly propulsive score by Nine Inch Nails (following in the funky footsteps of their storied predecessors Daft Punk and Wendy Carlos).

Never forget that Tron: Ares is a Disney movie, which means that it reliably sands down the more jagged philosophies of the dystopian sci-fi classics from which it cribs. This is popcorn-picture A.I. paranoia, with just enough hope for humanity that the next-gen audiences won’t crap their pants or think too hard about the deeper ramifications of our tech overlords. Let the electronic eye candy wash over you like a warm digital bath before evaporating without a trace. To quote one of the film’s villains: “Program dismissed!”