Over four decades ago, the original “Tron” film hinted at a future where computers would think for themselves, leading people to stop. Fast forward to today, and we have a new installment: “Tron: Ares.” This third film in the series (and notably, the first where the actual “Tron” character isn’t mentioned) dives deep into artificial intelligence, much like its predecessors.
The 1982 cult classic introduced us to Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges), a brilliant hacker and game designer who found himself trapped in a digitized world known as “the grid,” battling a malevolent AI, the Master Control Program. Its groundbreaking visual effects and the sprawling multimedia universe it inspired, including popular video games, cemented its place in pop culture history.
While the 2010 sequel, “Tron: Legacy,” is largely forgettable (even I had to rewatch it to recall anything), “Tron: Ares” wisely sidesteps most of its events. The only key takeaway from “Legacy” is that Sam Flynn, son of Kevin, ventured into the grid to find his father, who was living like a disaffected Zen master, and later returned to take over their company, Encom.
Now, many years later, Encom continues to develop Flynn’s games. Sam has since stepped away, and a quick news montage reveals that Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is now the CEO. She’s on a quest for something called the “permanence code,” which she believes Flynn left behind and her late sister, Tess, discovered.
Standing in Encom’s way is Dillinger Systems, led by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), grandson of the Flynns’ original rival, Ed Dillinger. Julian appears genetically destined for villainy, and despite his wise mother (Gillian Anderson) advising caution, he hatches a sinister scheme. His plan involves making Dillinger Systems incredibly rich, but it could also jeopardize the entire planet, especially if he gets his hands on that crucial permanence code.
Julian’s elaborate plan, as complex as it is, involves creating AI-driven programs within the Dillinger grid. These programs are designed for security but also function as formidable super-soldiers. Embracing his inner megalomaniac tech guru, Julian names them after ancient figures like Caius (Cameron Monaghan), Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), and Ares (Jared Leto). After their creation in the digital realm, Julian issues directives (appearing as a “Wizard of Oz”-style face on their command line) and beams them into our human world, where they are laser-constructed into physical forms – or, as some might call it, “meatspace.”
However, this plan comes with its share of oddities. For starters, these beamed-in entities disintegrate after just 29 minutes. And while they are easily replaceable and expendable (perfect for super-soldiers), there seem to be only about five of them in total on the Dillinger grid, hardly an army. The whole process of beaming back and forth also feels unnecessarily complicated when 3D printers and code-embedding chips already exist in our reality.
But honestly, trying to find logical consistency in a Tron movie is like bringing a set of teaspoons to a gunfight. The narrative swiftly moves forward, revolving loosely around artificial intelligence, and ultimately, it delves into the timeless question: what truly defines humanity? Most AI-centric films eventually tackle this, perhaps a reflection of our own narcissism. The usual answers—love, mortality, fallibility, creativity—are certainly pleasant ideas to contemplate.
The film masterfully preserves the techno-industrialist-futurist aesthetic of the series, featuring music by Nine Inch Nails (with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross as executive producers) and sleek, neon-lit action that mostly unfolds at night. There are also delightful callbacks to the early 1980s charm of the original. While Jared Leto’s performance continues to be somewhat muted, Evan Peters delivers a perfectly balanced portrayal of pure evil tinged with youthful arrogance. So, when stacked against other “Tron” films, “Ares,” despite not quite capturing the original’s adolescent, low-fi appeal, is significantly more engaging and, frankly, easier to understand than “Legacy.”
Across four decades, the “Tron” films offer a fascinating look at how Hollywood (and by extension, the general audience) perceives AI. That early line from the first film still resonates: a world teeming with thinking machines could indeed lead to people passively abandoning their critical thinking skills. Yet, the films themselves rarely explore this. Instead, much like many other AI movies (1982 also gave us Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” which shaped the sci-fi visual lexicon), they depict programs as obedient entities, with their primary threat being their potential as lethal instruments.
Undoubtedly, this is a terrifying potential application of machine learning, and one that has already been realized. However, it’s striking that cinema has yet to truly grapple with the AI most of us encounter daily: large language models like ChatGPT. These systems don’t “think,” cannot read, and don’t comprehend in a human sense. Their purpose is to serve and cater to our requests. While tragic incidents have occurred after people used such tools, it hasn’t been due to violent AI; rather, it’s because these AIs were designed for subservience. In our immediate reality, the most profound danger of everyday AI tools lies in how they subtly encourage us to bypass the fundamental act of thinking.
Occasionally, entertainment touches upon these deeper ideas, such as Spike Jonze’s “Her” (though it missed how corporations would control and manipulate AI products) or certain episodes of “Black Mirror.” But if film and television are meant to reflect and inform our fears and understandings of the world, then we’re still largely in the dark about living alongside modern AI. For the most part, it’s still portrayed as a blue-eyed super-soldier emerging from a digital realm in some tech mogul’s dimly lit, poorly conceived lair.
Tron: Ares
Rated PG-13 for images of destruction, though it’s all pretty cartoony. Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes. In theaters.