Ever since 1982 we have been enjoying the meta-action of the famed TRON film series. In the initial TRON film, the story was largely inspired by the then emergence of video game and computer technology. It has lived on in many cult-classic movie fans’ hearts because of the unique and abstract look of the original film, a futuristic sci-fi aesthetic featuring bright neon duotone color schemes. The first film centered around a character named Kevin Flynn (played in all three films by the legendary Jeff Bridges) and in an effort to prove his video game creations had been stolen by Ed Dillinger Senior Executive Vice President of his then former company, ENCOM, somewhat accidentally gets pulled into the digital realm of his creations. The adventure of the story always the wild and uniquely designed creations and games of “The Grid.” The Disc Battle and Light Cycle race contests from the first film are iconic, and equally legendary in the retro arcade game fan circles. The namesake character of the film TRON was played by actor Bruce Boxleitner, and the sentient security program was a massive part of the story in the first two films. TRON himself, one of the main reasons that Flynn survived the events of each story.
The story was continued in the 2010 film TRON: Legacy and featured a more expanded look at The Grid, with Flynn then both a resident and somewhat refugee in its digital walls. The story revolved around Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) being tricked into warping inside The Grid, where he discovered CLU (a program appearing as a de-aged Jeff Bridges that had malevolently took over the digital world) attempting to capture his father and Quorra (Olivia Wilde) his father’s apprentice. Quorra turns out to be what’s called an ISO (Isomorphic Algorithm), which is in fact a new species of self-aware digital lifeform, and she turns out to be the last of their kind. The film finds Sam and Quorra escaping CLU and The Grid to and returning to our real world. Fifteen years later, the TRON franchise has returned in the form of TRON: Ares. Diehard fans of the franchise will recognize much that has always been beloved about the fiction (discs, light cycles, Recognizers) but the film largely exists as a standalone addition to the story, mostly revolving around new characters further forward in the continuity of the storyline. The events of the previous two films are mentioned and addressed, but beyond Jeff Bridges’ return as his famed character Kevin Flynn, there are no other connections to the prior main characters/actors and viewers could see this movie if they had no awareness of the plot of the previous films.
At this point in the story, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is now the CEO of ENCOM, and while the company is still famed for hugely successful video games, Kim is centered on furthering her sister’s work, searching for Flynn’s “permanence code,” something that would allow digitally created beings to exist permanently in the real world. Meanwhile, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) the grandson of first film villain Ed Dillinger is now leading rival company Dillinger Systems which uses technology to make military weaponry. He introduces us to a new series of programs rendered into reality as super soldiers, chief among them, Ares (Jared Leto). These new beings (and their associated vehicle technology) can only exist for so long in our actual world, so Dillinger is on the hunt for the same “permanence code” that Kim is devoted to finding. The film hinges on the benevolent and malevolent potential uses of that arcane, lost code, and is mostly an adventure story revolving around trying to find it.
Most critically, the principal actors in the film (Leto, Lee, Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson and Bridges) all do a great job convincingly bringing their characters to life. A lot rests on Leto’s shoulders as Ares is a fully formed, and pretty much unstoppable killing machine/hacker program that still takes a childlike and wide-eyed approach to existing in the “real world.” We don’t get to know too much about Ares’ existence prior to the events of the film, and things get rolling pretty much right away. Though, he does manage to slide in numerous jokes and nods to electro goth pop legends Depeche Mode. There are a lot of hardcore, super nerd questions about the mechanics of this near-real-world sci-fi fantasy and why they actually work the film doesn’t spend too much time ruminating on, but the good news is the A to B path of the film all connects, makes sense and wraps up satisfyingly.
The biggest challenge of TRON: Ares—which may be a good thing or bad things depending on your preferences—is this film is largely about the digital world spilling into our real world, as opposed to a big adventure inside the digital world. Yes, this is the least time in The Grid we spend amidst the TRON trilogy. But if you like light cycles and disc fighting, it’s beautiful to see the threat and splash of color it means in our grittier “real” world. Just a little of what was common in the original TRON film’s digital landscape makes for a terrifying threat in a real-world, metropolitan landscape. The main mechanics are mostly present in TRON: Ares, but the first two film practice of deadly digital contests is largely eschewed for this story (though they appear in different ways in terms of organic action). Joachim Rønning directed this film from a script written by Jesse Wigutow. Wigutow’s script rocks along pretty fast, as once things get going, there’s scarcely a moment of pause until the end credits roll.
One of the biggest treats of this film—which has been rightfully so focused on mightily in the movie’s marketing and PR—is the coup that Nine Inch Nails did the full score/soundtrack for it. This is the first time that band masterminds Trent Reznor and his permanent partner Atticus Ross have composed score under the Nine Inch Nails moniker. Usually credited as just Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the multiple time Oscar winners have now done a bevvy of genius-level film scores including The Social Network, Soul, Mank, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Challengers, Queer and yes, even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (do yourself a favor and listen to this one, it’s really good). If they hadn’t amassed a roster of legendary scores on the same level as Danny Elfman, they would already be famous for being the world’s best industrial rock band and the force responsible for creating some of the finest albums of the 1990s and 2000s (there are too many to list, but if you have not heard them, stop what you’re doing and listen intently to The Downward Spiral and Year Zero at least). This score, featuring few songs with vocals, sits as an ominous undercurrent to almost every sequence of the film. As intense as the moment is, NIN’s score makes it even more foreboding, more menacing. The score really sits as an unseen character pulsating everything forward. On a big screen with a dominating IMAX-level sound system, it’s truly a molar rattling experience. Reznor and Ross had the unenviable task of following Daft Punk’s wonderful score to TRON: Legacy, and this effort sits excellently at the same level of quality as Daft Punk’s approach did on the 2010 film. There hasn’t been a performance announced yet that would be live play of just this soundtrack, but good lord, hopefully there will be.
Rating: 4 out of 5
TRON: Ares is a worthwhile inclusion to the cult classic franchise. It takes a different, if nothing else, courageously new approach to the venerable franchise and all the key elements are rendered carefully by the key contributors. It may not ignite a new renaissance of classic 8 bit, 1980’s video game-style graphics, but it is fun to see a solid action movie featuring these classic game-inspired mechanics.
All images courtesy of Disney.
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