REEL | Jared Leto and Greta Lee Escape 'Tron: Ares'

"He's biblically strong."

Walt Disney Pictures

Problematic method actor Jared Leto inexplicably takes over Disney's retro-futuristic, sci-fi gaming franchise in Academy Award-nominated Norwegian director Joachim Rønning's long-gestating sequel, Tron: Ares. Shot in Vancouver, witness the city's downtown get absolutely demolished in crystal clear IMAX in a visual treat scored to Nine Inch Nails' bombastic (complimentary) new music.

Set fifteen years after Tron: Legacy, Greta Lee and Evan Peters also star as the rival tech CEOs of ENCOM and Dillinger Systems, who are in a race to unlock the key to regenerative A.I. technology, Flynn's original "Permanence Code." Peters portrays possibly one of the worst and dumbest businessman villain-type characters in recent memory as he builds weapons and is shocked when they are inevitably used against him, all while loudly committing capital crimes, including attempted murder, quite publicly. When questioned about his motives by his mother (a wasted Gillian Anderson), he exclaims he will simply be forgiven because of his greatness (groan).

Rønning keeps the illuminating, neon-soaked cinematography aesthetic, lensed here by veteran DP Jeff Cronenweth, but there's a noticeable lack of people or speaking parts in the film. Aside from Jodie Turner-Smith's villainous program character, Arturo Castro's sidekick to Lee, Hasan Minhaj's CTO tech bro, and Jeff Bridges reprising his original role as Flynn briefly, things are exclusively focused on Lee, Peters, and Turner-Smith's frequent battles with little outside stakes.

Leto is suitably fine as a soulless, programmed A.I. character slowly defecting from his core directive, while an overqualified Lee does her best with the thin material given, as scripted by screenwriter Jesse Wigutow. Sadly, Peters' eleven-out-of-ten, capital-A acting performance is so distractingly loud, it almost sinks all the other colourful fun had. It's also not nearly as compelling to have Tron come into the real world as opposed to the original 1983 concept of someone being transported into the game.

Tron: Ares is undeniably basic in its very limited ambition. All the kinetic blockbuster action is thrilling and propulsive, but falls flat due to inconsistent performances and otherwise bare bones nature. It's a competent cinematic spectacle that aims not much higher than keeping your attention tightly focused on the lightcycle chases, combat fighting, bright lights, and relentless mass destruction of the city I live in.


More | YVArcade / Indiewire / Polygon / ScreenCrush