‘Tron: Ares’ isn’t as bad as the critics say

BY BRENNA DEMSPEY

Executive Producer

The “Tron” franchise finally made its comeback on the big screen after 15 long years of anticipation with its new installation, “Tron: Ares,” and the big question on everyone’s mind is, is it any good? 

As a movie by itself, it's not the best, but as a “Tron” movie, it’s good. 

Right after it hit theaters, the reviews were overwhelmingly negative, with many people saying to not even waste the money on a ticket. I almost listened to them, but I wanted to decide if I liked it on my own, and boy, am I glad that I went to see it.

Right now, the current Letterboxd rating is 2.7 stars and a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Things seem to be pointing in all the wrong directions for this movie. Even Jared Leto, who plays the main character, Ares, is currently in a slurry of negative drama. 

The moment they announced “Tron: Ares,” I was overjoyed, but when I saw the cast, I felt my heart break a little when his name was at the top. 

In June of this year, just a few months before “Tron: Ares” had its theatrical release, Jared Leto was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, some of whom said they were minors when it happened. Leto has denied these claims in an interview with Air Mail.

There is also Mars Island, which is a retreat founded by Thirty Seconds to Mars, where the Echelon (this is what the fans are called) travel to Croatia for three days for festival events. 

Many of the accusations of sexual misconduct are said to have taken place at Mars Island gatherings. It is often referred to as a “cult” even by Leto himself, though jokingly.

Leto is also a known method actor, and on the set of “Suicide Squad” (2016), he gave “gag gifts” to his co-stars; according to Viola Davis, one such gift was a dead pig. Due to his unsettling nature, many people are less than happy to have him in a movie. 

However, this movie might not have even existed without the involvement of Leto. For years, he has been an advocate for the movie and has worked as a co-producer to get it on the screen. I have to begrudgingly give him a point for that. 

Now that all of that is out of the way, let’s talk about why it’s a good “Tron” movie.

While the movie has been criticized for a lack of plot, poor acting and a mediocre script, that is somewhat excusable because of the way the “Tron” movies are designed.

The original “Tron” and “Tron: Legacy” were both visual pioneers in their respective eras. All three movies have plot lines, but unlike other films, they play more of a backseat role when compared to the visuals and audio.

“Tron” (1982) made movie history with the advanced CGI, and it brought into fashion a visual style that was not seen in many movies in the 80s. Part of its appeal was that, at the time, computers were still a mystery to some people. 

In “Tron: Ares,” Ares is an AI software, and part of the appeal is that AI remains somewhat of a mystery to us, since artificial intelligence is still in its infancy. Looping back to that was cool to see.

“Tron: Legacy” (2010) is probably my favorite of the three movies and has one of the best soundtracks with many scores made by Daft Punk; it just fits the vibe so well.

“Tron: Ares” also hits hard with all-new tracks produced by Nine Inch Nails. This was a perfect fit and adds that same feeling to this movie to bring in another connection to the franchise. 

If either of the previous “Tron” movies were released today, I feel like they would be completely different because of the way technology has evolved.

Moving back to the importance of visuals, the intro sequence alone is enough to make the price of my movie ticket worth it. In fact, I went to see it twice.

The camera angles and shots were incredibly unique, with many long shots that blend seamlessly into the next scene. There were lots of sweeping, twisting camera zooms and pans that made it feel like I was really in the game, experiencing it with the characters. 

The digital landscape called “The Grid” is known for its sharp and contrasting colors, geometry and otherworldly online computer feeling. This was done justice and even had a call back to the first Tron’s Grid in a way that had me jumping out of my seat in shock and excitement. 

There are stunning action scenes with high-speed lightcycle chases that just blew me away (lightcycles are futuristic motorcycle programs). In one scene, the blade-like “light ribbons” that trail behind the lightcycles cut a police car in half – everything about it looked nice.

The light cycle chase at the very beginning of the movie was one of my favorites and featured some beautiful aerial shots.

I feel like in a lot of modern films, CGI has become worse, but that can absolutely not be said about this “Tron: Ares.” The CGI was fantastic. I honestly didn’t think about it at all while I was watching the movie, it was so seamless. 

To the people who are saying the acting and writing are awful in this movie, a lot of it can be attributed to the fact that these characters aren’t supposed to feel natural because they aren’t natural.

And even though Jared Leto didn’t have the best acting, it was kind of fitting because he plays something that’s not quite human anyway. So, the oddities and awkward presentation add to his character. While I’m not that familiar with Leto’s acting career, if this was intentional, he should be applauded. 

I was surprised by Jodie Turner-Smith, who played the character Athena. She did an amazing job showcasing the way her AI program developed throughout the movie. You can see the character changing based on the subtle changes of emotion on her face. 

“Tron: Ares” is an artistic movie that was very enjoyable. A lot of the time, I find myself taking movies too seriously, and while that’s fun sometimes, taking a step back and just enjoying a movie for the creativity, soundtrack and visuals is just as fun.

Yes, if we tore this movie apart piece by piece, it probably would be a bad movie, but there are a lot of things that make it a good movie. 

Ignore the bad reviews and watch it for yourself – it just might surprise you.

“Tron: Ares” is projected to stream on Disney+ sometime in late January 2026.