RIOTUS

Staking its claim to the intersection of science fiction, portal fantasy, and CGI, 1982’s TRON is a game-changer with arcade energy. Starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, Bruce Boxleitner as the titular Tron, and Cindy Morgan as Lora/Yori, the Disney movie is a clear inspiration for The Matrix franchise and Ready Player One. Jump to 2010, where TRON: Legacy reboots The Grid with Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn and Olivia Wilde as the enigmatic Quorra, all while Daft Punk drops a soundtrack that digitized our brains with its electro goodness. Fast-forward to an animated spin-off and a cult following, and now TRON: ARES is set to retake The Grid and make the leap into the real world.

Evan Peters is Julian Dillinger, the obsessive billionaire tech-giant, and heir to the Dillinger corporation. His rival is Greta Lee as Eve Kim, one of a pair of sisters who took over the Flynn family’s legacy, Encom. Both companies are thriving, but they need the “permanence code” left behind by Kevin Flynn. That’s the key to making the 3D printed creations from inside The Grid last longer than 29 minutes in our world, thus achieving permanence. Everybody has their reasons. Julian wants to make weapons. Eve wants to print a better world. While the Dillinger facilities are coldly mechanical, featuring security programs named after gods—like Ares (Jared Leto) or Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith)—alongside mecha straight out of anime, Eve surrounds herself with good-hearted tech-geeks and the warmth of video game nostalgia. 

Those contrasts set the rules of the game. And which side we’re on. Things get hectic when Ares shows signs of a pesky problem called humanity, and compassion doesn’t work for Dillinger or Athena. Eve, on the other hand, could use a lot of it. Dillinger’s belief that life is disposable and his refusal to listen to his mother, Gillian Anderson, set his heel turn into motion. Meanwhile, Eve’s need to fulfill her sister’s legacy and her relationship with her bestie, Arturo Castro, send her out on her own quest. And Ares becomes the point of collision. 

I’m hoping this Nine Inch Nails score will soften the blow, because like Zoolander, TRON: ARES is “really, really, ridiculously good-looking.” Seriously, the visuals are amazing. From the CGI to the cinematography to the costuming and production design. This movie sounds good, too—great, actually (did you listen to the score and soundtrack?) And the actors are doing good work. They’re engaging and believable…and…and…I’m running out of compliments. 

The story behind TRON: ARES is so derivative that it could be a memory. I’ll prove it. Greta Lee is Sarah Connor, and Jared Leto is half T-800 (from the second movie) and half Kyle (from the first movie). That makes Jodie Turner-Smith the cold-blooded hunter, T-1000. Yes, TRON: ARES is basically a Terminator remix that turns into Romancing the Stone. You might think I’m joking, but at the end, when you think you’re looking at Michael Douglas in Cartagena, I’ll be the one laughing.

Oddly enough, the original TRON has become so influential that the franchise has doubled back on itself. It’s now a copy of an inspiration copied from an inspiration. With its mash-up lineage, TRON: ARES had the potential for genre-bending freshness, but it plays out without much meaning or true narrative pull. I kind of wish these were the visuals for a NIN rock opera; that would’ve been a thrill. Instead, this movie left me as emotionless as one of the NPC programs. Thank goodness “the Dude abides, and we get a Jeff Bridges scene. Applause for Lee, Turner-Smith and Castro, too—they conspire with the soundtrack and visuals—I wouldn’t have made it to the credits without them.

To wrap it up, TRON: ARES is a gorgeously hollow cyberpunk shell, mostly just the echoes of its inspirations and some great Nine Inch Nails.