A movie that explores “what if 3D printing was infinitely better”
The glow of red, falsified steel. The lingering beam of hard-light preventing passage. The three-pronged disc of a program at war. “Tron: Ares” is a film with incredible visual effects that stays true to the franchise’s original vision.
“Tron” is a widely known sci-fi franchise where people are abducted into the digital world. The original movie, produced in 1982, may have been a source of inspiration for the more niche ideas in “The Matrix” (1999) and “Ready Player One” (2018) of being trapped in a digital world.
What separates “Tron: Ares” from its former movies is the crossover of artificial intelligence into our reality. The original “Tron” (1982) and “Tron: Legacy” (2010) were about immersion into the Grid. The “programs” were users, people who were digitized. “Tron: Ares” flips the script in a way, presenting a completely artificial program given physical flesh. Ares is similar to Quorra from “Tron: Legacy” (2010) – a program who escaped from the Grid. However, Ares and the other programs like Athena are given a limitation in the film’s mythology: they need the permanence code to exist.
“Tron: Ares” has incredible visual effects, an immersive soundtrack, a consistent mythology and a unique premise. My gripes, I fear, are with the characters, their dialogue and the overall message. Throughout the film, the characters are impressively shallow. Emotional depth, clear motivations and meaningful change are shoved into the proverbial closet to make room for the dazzling sci-fi visuals of the 21st century.
Ares is claimed to be dangerous, yet he lacks maneuvers or capabilities that set him apart. At the end of the film, the movie tries to award him with human-like characteristics in order to make him a pinch more lovable instead of just a plot device. The antagonist, Julian Dillinger, seems only to desire the permanence code to impress the military or make money for himself. His motives are superficial for the majority of the film. The protagonist, Eve Kim, is the inheritor of the permanence code, but serves only as a moral counterbalance. Side characters also seem to be present for the sole purpose of archetypal roles.
The film needs to move past “Dillinger wants war, Kim wants peace.” The antagonist needs to be searching for something more than himself and oppose the goals of the protagonist in some way. Dialogue between the characters has to be more than saying the obvious “this is bad” and “this is good.” Complexity is necessary, even for a movie with such an impossible premise. The message seems questionable at best, coming off almost as “machines are people too” or “be careful where 3D printing can get you.”
As for the visuals, soundtrack and mythology, the film is at the apex of the franchise. The gleaming red, the barriers of energy, the ominous dark techno music and the threat of a mixed digital and physical reality immediately drew me in. “Tron: Ares” could have explored the hazards of creating something you are unable to control, the extent of human selfishness or greed and the anonymity that the internet offers today. Devastating consequences, characters grappling with what it means to be real and deep psychological and technological warfare would have added a whole new level of greatness to this installment of the franchise.