“Tron: Ares”: completing a digital trilogy properly

Micah J. Marrapodi

Assistant Opinions Editor

Director Joachim Rønning’s “Tron: Ares” hit theaters Oct. 10, 2025, and many critics—“critics” may be generous—are getting it wrong. The film requires a modicum of empathy for artificially intelligent entities, and dunking on AI has become quite popular among “keyboard warriors” nowadays, so I’m not surprised by the backlash.

That said, in defense of the few sincere criticisms, “Tron: Ares” isn’t seamless. But, if seamlessness is what critics seek, even films like “The Godfather,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Donnie Darko” would fall short. And if critics really want seamlessness, perhaps they’re in the wrong profession.

I strive to be the sort of critic Oscar Wilde described in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: “The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.” 

Keeping that in mind—intending to shrewdly appreciate, rather than pedantically condemn—I offer this review of “Tron: Ares,” the first step toward me launching a more comprehensive analysis of the Tron franchise. 

This film epitomizes concluding a trilogy par excellence. It continues the narrative that began in 1982 with the original “Tron” and evolved in 2010 with “Tron: Legacy,” paying homage while bravely innovating. Having watched both the first and second Tron movies in anticipation of the third’s release, I believe the franchise’s most recent addition is its best yet. 

The film incorporates elements from both the original and the sequel, and it was a delight to see “Bit,” a bluish-white shape that can only say “Yes” and “No,” from the first film, as well as the bearded Kevin Flynn from the second. Simultaneously, though still confined by anthropomorphism, it expands on the existentialist grappling of nonhuman entities. This was especially true of the subject referenced in the film’s title: Ares.

Graphic from TRON: Ares - Movie Trailer & Book tickets | Disney

Ares, portrayed with a refreshing nuance by Jared Leto, is a Program made from “billions” of lines of unique code, as declared by the grandiose Julian Dillinger, who assigns Ares his directive. Ares’s journey from mere Program, directed and expendable, to something profoundly human is incredibly compelling, not least because it's bound up in his realization of empathy. 

His struggles with empathy, life, death, love and loss all serve to inculcate humanity within him. Through this, Ares is reminiscent of Quorra from “Tron: Legacy,” the last known living “ISO” or “Isomorphic Algorithms…programs that spontaneously evolved on the Grid.” Both characters share the rare experience of entering the three-dimensional human realm, each thus blurring the boundary between artificial and actual human being in ways best left unspoiled for new viewers. 

Aesthetically, the film matches—and in moments surpasses—its direct predecessor. The visuals remain crisp, with that same futuristic glow. And the reprised incorporation of light accents into sleek vehicles, dark suits and more recreates precisely the sort of cyberpunkesque atmosphere that “Tron: Legacy” had (which was a large part of what attracted me to the franchise in the first place). 

Nine Inch Nails delivers a soundtrack worthy of comparison to Daft Punk’s iconic score from “Tron Legacy.” And the increased use of vocals added something new that didn’t undermine the franchise vibe. 

I did find it had a slightly subdued ending, I couldn’t help but hear Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” in the back of my mind. For viewers who grasp the film’s existential significance, the softer close feels deliberate, even emblematic. The story is primarily about becoming, or more specifically, Ares becoming despite the strings of circumstance and base instinct. And my reference to strings is not my own invocation, for Dillinger himself inveighs against Ares by calling him “Pinocchio.” And yet, Ares proves him, and also our fellow critics who self-reportedly lacked empathy for Ares (see timestamp 4:19), wrong six ways from Sunday. 

This is not an exhaustive list, but because of his burgeoning empathy, Ares first spares a life, then he offers to lay down his life for his friends, the sort of act that is lauded—whether or not one concurs with the broader religious implications—in John 15:13: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” and finally he also chooses to live a single impermanent, incarnate life rather over an infinite digital existence. And isn’t that choice deeply human?

“Tron: Ares” meets or exceeds all of my many, imbricated expectations set by “Tron: Legacy.” For that, Ares’s character arc, the aesthetic, the soundtrack, and my overall experience and first impression, I give “Tron: Ares” a solid four and a half stars—not quite placing it alongside films like “La La Land,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Gia,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Tron: Legacy” itself, but certainly acknowledging its excellent quality.