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Evan Peters stars in a scene from the movie "Tron: Ares." The OSV News classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (OSV News photo/Leah Gallo, Disney)

Movie Review: ‘Tron: Ares’


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OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews

NEW YORK (OSV News) – The sci-fi action movie “Tron: Ares” (Disney) represents the Mouse House’s second big-screen attempt to recapture the magic of what turned out to be a remarkably prophetic 1982 feature, now regarded as a cult classic. Unfortunately, the film is not an instance of the third time being lucky.

Like its predecessors, this glitzy but grating production, directed by Joachim Ronning, straddles the digital and real worlds. The foundation of its plot is the rivalry between a duo of computer company CEOs who are competing to develop a vastly significant new technology.

Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) is ruthless and power-hungry. Eve Kim (Greta Lee), by contrast, is more noble-minded. Thus part of Eve’s motivation in striving for the breakthrough, we learn early on, is her desire to honor the legacy of her deceased sister and business partner, Tess, whose untimely death from cancer Eve continues to mourn.

With his eye on the lucrative arms trade, Julian has designed the perfect warrior (Jared Leto) from whose name the picture takes its subtitle. Yet, while Ares is a seemingly unconquerable fighter, he can only survive outside Julian’s grid for half an hour at a time before he self-destructs.

That’s because he lacks the elusive “permanence code” both Julian and Eve are seeking.

Apparently motivated by his attraction to Eve, whose life he has been instructed to study exhaustively, Ares wavers in his loyalty to Julian. Ares’ female counterpart, Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), however, turns out to be more reliably obedient.

Such emotional considerations as Eve’s bereavement or her eventual bond with Ares are mostly shunted aside in favor of combat sequences and vehicle chases showcasing nifty gadgets. This culminates with Athena in command of — and wreaking havoc with — a gigantic aircraft.

Even when the human dimension briefly does take center stage, moreover, its presentation comes across as little more convincing than the convoluted philosophical speculations with which Jesse Wigutow’s screenplay is freighted. The thrust of these musings is that the fragility of flesh-and-blood life is precisely what makes it so valuable.

Ronning keeps the action bloodless and there’s relatively little to object to in Wigutow’s dialogue. So “Tron: Ares” makes acceptable — if not especially appealing — fare for teens as well as grown-ups.

The film contains much stylized violence, at least one use each of profanity and crude language and several mild oaths. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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