Tron: Ares: When the Digital Dream Just... Fizzles, Mate
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Tron: Ares reportedly fumbles its return to The Grid, misinterpreting the original's magic by prioritising surface-level nostalgia and corporate drama over the franchise's rebellious heart, though its Nine Inch Nails soundtrack is apparently an absolute banger.
You know that feeling when you try to boot up a classic game, and it just… doesn’t quite hit the same? Or worse, it’s been 'remastered' into something almost unrecognisable? Well, apparently, the cinematic universe isn't immune to this particular brand of digital heartache. According to Clint Gage over at IGN South Africa, the highly anticipated *Tron: Ares* has landed, and it’s less of a dazzling new program and more of a… well, a bit of a glitch in the Matrix, if you catch my drift.
I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. See, the original *Tron* isn’t just some old flick; it’s an absolute cult classic. Back in '82, it was mind-bendingly cutting-edge, asking big questions about technology before most folks even knew what a 'computer' really was. It captured a certain rebellious spirit, too – Kevin Flynn, the talented underdog getting screwed over by the corporate machine. Relatable, isn’t it? That whole 'power to the player' vibe, but for a programmer zapped into a digital world. *Tron: Legacy* did a decent enough job picking up the threads, expanding on the visual language, and left us with a tantalising question: what happens when programs from The Grid start strolling through our meatspace? A truly exciting narrative hook, if you ask me.
But *Ares*? Clint Gage reckons it seems determined to not only ignore *Legacy*'s groundwork completely but also fundamentally misunderstand what made the original *Tron* an icon. And that, mate, is where my gentle skepticism meter starts pinging like a broken modem. It’s like casting a powerful spell, but then using it to light a candle when you could have powered a city. Why build on something when you can just… build again, but slightly worse?
The film reportedly tries its darnedest to 'honour' the original, scattering nostalgic Easter eggs like digital confetti. We’re talking a full-on recreation of Kevin Flynn’s old office, right there in the corporate HQ. But here’s the kicker, and this is where Clint’s observation is spot-on: the *facsimile* plays a bigger role than the *actual* original office. Talk about a metaphor for a franchise trying to ape its past without truly grasping its soul. It’s a bit like buying a fancy NFT of an iconic game character, but then you can’t actually *play* the game with it. What's the point beyond the pretty picture?
Narratively, *Ares* plunges us back into another corporate battle for Encom, featuring a new Dillinger squaring off against Encom CEO Eve Kim (played by the fantastic Greta Lee, who apparently does good work even in this digital quagmire). Evan Peters is chewing scenery as Julian Dillinger, and Jodie Turner-Smith brings the hench-power as Athena. There are solid performances in there, absolutely. But here’s the rub: the central conflict, with its warring billionaire CEOs, feels... well, a bit like watching a paint-by-numbers spreadsheet. Where’s the 'user' perspective? Where's that counter-culture grit? It feels like the human story, the genuine heart that made Flynn's struggles so compelling, has been swapped out for corporate jargon and boardroom bickering. We're told there's a hero and a villain, but according to Gage, there's not much reason to actually *care* about them. That’s a tough sell for any story, let alone one set in a world of electrifying digital duels.
And then there’s Jared Leto’s Ares himself. The entire film supposedly hinges on his storyline, but Clint points out that we’re given precious little reason to invest in him. Glimpses of him struggling with 'feelings' are apparently so fleeting they don't land. He’s meant to be unstoppable, cutting-edge tech, but mostly he just gets described as such to a room full of suits. Leto’s robotic aloofness might be well deployed, but a character’s thoughts literally flashing on a HUD isn’t exactly what I’d call deep character exploration. It’s the storytelling equivalent of showing, rather than telling, but in such shorthand that you still don’t get it.
Perhaps the most deliciously ironic element – and one that a curious gamer like myself can't help but observe – is the film's meta-commentary. At one point, the characters reportedly have an earnest conversation about whether pop culture icons should be rebooted for profit or used to better humanity. In the third film of a franchise that perhaps didn't *need* to be a franchise, this feels less like insightful reflection and more like a snake trying to eat its own tail while wearing a corporate tie. As Clint Gage so eloquently puts it, 'oblivious' is probably the right word. It’s the kind of tone-deaf moment that makes you wonder if anyone involved actually played the original game, or just looked at the box art.
Now, for all its narrative half-measures and missed opportunities – like ignoring *Legacy*'s established groundwork for The Grid leaking into the real world, only to clumsily set up the same idea from scratch – there’s one glorious, earth-shattering redeeming factor: the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. Clint Gage absolutely raves about it, saying it's mixed to be front and centre, rattling your teeth in the best possible way. Eerie, curious, moody, and providing an atmosphere that earns its top billing. He even admits he bumped his score from a 4 to a 5 just for the music! That's a fair dinkum compliment right there, mate. Sometimes, even when the spell goes wrong, the accompanying incantation can still be utterly magical.
Ultimately, *Tron: Ares* sounds like it’s just… fine. It’s not terrible, not a disaster, but dangerously mediocre. For a franchise born from visionary ideas and groundbreaking visuals, 'mediocre' feels like a betrayal of its digital heritage. It offers little beyond surface-level nostalgia and a banging soundtrack. It’s a hollow facsimile, a corporate high-rise built on the bones of a counter-culture legend. The good news, as Clint reminds us, is that the 1982 original *Tron* is still out there, ready to be rediscovered. Sometimes, you just can't beat the OG, eh?
*Original review by Clint Gage for IGN South Africa.*
Tags: film review, franchise reboot, nostalgia bait, sci-fi, digital world
Original article: IGN South Africa