Title – Tron: Ares (2025)

Director – Joachim Rønning (Kon-Tiki)

Cast – Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges

Plot – A highly advanced program named Ares (Leto) sets his sights on moving from the digital world into the real world when he’s sent on a dangerous mission to uncover the secrets of Eve Kim (Lee).

“I’m looking for something. Something I do not understand”

Review by Eddie on 14/10/2025

While not exactly setting the world on fire upon release in 2010, in the 15 years that have passed since Joseph Kosinski’s Tron: Legacy was released, there’s been a steady stream of adoration for the visually stunning and fun blockbuster, so much so that there was significant hope that this long in the making third entry into the Tron series was going to hit all the marks fans were expecting.

Recently premiering to a mixed collection of reviews and fairly diabolical box office figures, worse figures even than lead actor Jared Leto’s recent Morbius disaster, it sadly appears as though Tron: Ares might finally hammer the final nail into Tron’s coffin that has been teetering on being closed over ever since the industry changing original raced onto the big screen all the way back in 1982.

Directed by Hollywood gun for hire Joachim Rønning, who showed so much promise with his fantastic Kon-Tiki in 2012 but has since gone on to helm the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Ares is a hard film to concretely judge for as a visual big screen offering it offers a lot, from eye popping visuals through to a stunning sound design that’s founded around a seat rattling Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, there’s some highly entertaining features to Rønning’s $180 million dollar plus event film but there’s also a lot left to be desired.

Racing along at a breakneck speed through its 120 minute running time, there’s barely a moment for Ares to stop and smell the roses and in turn for the audience to latch onto and connect with anything on an emotional level with the films hip firing script from Jesse Wigutow not helping proceedings much at all, leaving a lot on the shoulders of Ares cast to do with very little support.

Controversially lead by Leto, who has found himself under much scrutiny in recent times and supported by key turns from Past Lives breakout star Greta Lee, Dahmer headliner Evan Peters and featuring basic support turns from Jodie Turner-Smith and series legend Jeff Bridges, Ares has a relatively stacked ensemble but even someone far more charismatic and broadly likable than Leto would’ve struggled to give Ares the boost it needed as its flawed story and basic level storytelling take hold.

The type of film that if analysis for too long you will continue to find more reasons to not like it and the perfect example of a film that should be seen on the big screen otherwise not at all with your brain switched all the way off, Ares provides some fantastic visual delights and nice series throwbacks and references but as a clear attempt by Disney to once more reignite the Tron brand for a whole other era, it’s likely Ares is the final big screen attempt to turn this property into a global phenomenon that gives the house of mouse another reason to print money.

Final Say –

Stunning as a visual offering and featuring the year’s most immersive and alive soundtrack, Tron: Ares is far from a complete failure but its barebones story, poorly worked script and robotic performances ensure it’s unlikely to reignite the long dormant brand into the future.

3 unfortunate gas station attendants out of 5