Disney's Tron: Ares, directed by Joachim (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) Ronning and scripted by Jesse Wigutow (based on a concept he conceived with David DiGilio), has been downplayed as a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy, but also its animated extension, Tron: Uprising, the series' video-game and comic-book offshoots, not to mention the pioneering, 1982 Tron, but gee whiz, it's a sequel all the same, being part of the saga's progressing, circuited mythology, even if distanced from its past and therefore, feeling rather independent at times.
Nevertheless, it's a new start for an old, digital ride. Unlike the prior Tron incarnations, which employ predominate, cool-blue graphics (a technique started by Hazel O'Connor for Breaking Glass and later inserted for the cult, television series, Automan), Tron: Ares accentuates sleek reds (buffered by black backdrops and on occasion, yellowy-orange stripes), with nostalgic blues only guest-starring. Even so, whether red or blue, spiffy graphics are nice to behold, but its the flow, the pacing, that only ever makes a palette palpable.
For Tron: Ares, the plot falls upon Jared Leto's artificial-intelligence antagonist who becomes its pensive protagonist, Ares, a super-advanced "Master Control" program and/or "ultimate soldier," who enters our fleshy grid, often accompanied by additional A.I. "invaders," with a classic, conquering potential (ala Legacy's Clu). Ares, however, is a rebel, inclined to assimilate and comprehend what it is to be "human" (while in search of a coveted, "permanency code"), rather than bow without argument to a powerful, Earth tycoon. (The idea is much like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in its contemplation, Invasion of the Body Snatchers in its philosophy and Frankenstein in its morality, but maybe even more like those instances when Star Trek: The Next Generation made Professor Moriarty self-aware.)
We learn that Ares was devised by an ENCOM competitor, Julian Dillinger (of Dillinger Systems, and for those wondering, the grandson of David Warner's Ed from Tron #1). Young Dillinger is played by Evan (American Horror Story/X-Men) Peters, who's up against Greta Lee's ENCOM executive Eve Kim (burdened by the death of her sister, Greta, played by Selene Yun). The corporate combatants are joined by Gillian Anderson's Elisabeth, Dillinger's mom; Hasan Minhaj's Chief Technology Officer, Ajay Singh; Arturo Castro's Seth Flores, Eve's buddy; and Jeff Bridge's Kevin Flynn, he being the sentimental, imprint from the previous movies. (In this outing, he ascends as a Jor-El/Obi Wan figure, which is a nice touch, but on the downside, Bruce Boxleitner's Tron/Alan Bradley is, well, nowheresville, and the same goes for Legacy's Garrett Hedlund's Sam Flynn and Olivia Wilde's computerized Quorra, unless one counts their sporadic allusions: a controversial move, but for better or worse, there it is.)
For Ares, his snazzy, righthand assistant is Jodie Turner-Smith's Athena. Cameron Monaghan (who played those chilling Joker brothers, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, on Gotham) is Caius, a fleeting, crackerjack (special-forces) fighter, for those who wish to take note. Together they (along with Dillinger/Ares' nameless/faceless minions) make quite a formidable band, the sort that would more than hold its own with any DC/Marvel equivalent, whether on the side of good or bad.
Much of the movie's later half concentrates on Ares and his teammates/adversaries engaging in inexhaustible explosions of dazzling imagery, pumped by a New Wave-ish, Nine Inch Nails score, with a little Depeche Mode thrown in.
The initial, visual sprees are rapid and rousing, especially when presented as I experienced them, in IMAX, but I must confess, I often find the elongation of special effects numbing to a fault. Then again, maybe it's more of a tit-for-tat with me. I'm fine with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek: The Motion Picture in this respect, finding it easy to invest in their slow, introspective approaches, but with Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 and The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, the transcendent artistry, though commendable, tends to lull me to sleep.
I can't say that's the absolute case with Tron: Ares, though there were times when it tripped me out with its circling lights more than I'd have liked. At least Leto's resolute character gave me cause to take a deep, wakeful breath, and despite the threat of an imminent trance, I adhered to his cognitive cause.
Leto (who I might add, coproduced the movie) is, in my estimation, is a solid actor, and I appreciate him as Suicide Squad's Joker and "the living vampire" Michael Morbius. Ares isn't as complicated (i.e., twisted and/or accursed) as those icons, but he does make an acceptable, Christ-like avatar, similar to The Matrix's Neo, which for the sake of the movie's on-the-cusp, War of the Worlds/Terminator spins, keeps things grounded yet soulful when and where needed.
I can't say if Ares will redefine the Tron franchise. I believe that the original will always be the big breakthrough, with Legacy standing as an honorable follow-up, whereas Ares tends to make an aesthetic mark here, while missing one there, but shoot, isn't that the way with many pictures these days? That means it'll be pure gold for some and expendable garland for others. For me (if only for right here and now), it's wedged somewhere in between.
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