Expectations are a helluva thing. With the critical bashing that TRON ARES took, I had zero expectations on my return to the grid. In fact, I rewatched TRON: LEGACY to make sure I was ready, and since that flat, pointless sequel was only watchable for the soundtrack and a few action sequences, it lowered my hype even further.
Yet, once the opening Disney logo with the TRON vibes hit the screen and the NIN music blasted through the speakers, I was all in. Sure, the film has a razor-thin plot with a ton of holes. But you know what? Who cares. It’s fun, visually stimulating, and a good popcorn movie to enjoy in a theater of like-minded moviegoers.
With that said, this movie is not about any performance or actor. Yeah, there’s Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee, and Evan Peters. However, they are in it to serve the mindless, non-stop action. And boy, oh boy, is there a lot of it. And for the most part (before a tired 3rd act starts to drag on), it’s entertaining.
I’m not saying that TRON ARES is the best film of 2025. Nor will it make my top ten list. What I’m saying is that sometimes we need a familiar IP to deliver empty-calorie fun. As the serious Oscar-bait holiday season is about to kick into high gear, this was the perfect night of light cycles and disk battles that I look forward to revisiting on Disney+ soon.
It’s available in theatres now.