By Sam Gassaway | Photographer
Like the lyrics of the song used in the trailers, I wanted this movie to “give me something to believe in,” but what I received was a standard, run-of-the-mill action sci-fi movie.
To call myself a fan of the Tron franchise would be an understatement. Like many people my age, I grew up at the perfect time to fall in love with “Tron: Legacy.” It was one of the first and only movies I became obsessed with, and from age 10 onward, it became a constant comfort watch for me.
I also went back and watched the first one, and although I found it cheesy initially, I fell in love with it in its own way. This past summer, I studied in Los Angeles and got to attend the premiere of the original “Tron” 4K rerelease with director Steven Lisberger, which made me love the film even more.
When “Tron: Legacy” had a comeback on social media and a third movie in the franchise was greenlit, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to see where the franchise would go after a 15-year hiatus; however, as more and more details came out about the project, with Jared Leto as the lead and Nine Inch Nails on the soundtrack, I became worried. There were so many ways that Disney could mess this film up, and to my surprise, they didn’t.
Firstly, casting Jared Leto in anything is a tough gamble. In the past decade, he’s been at the center of multiple box office bombs and even more critical failures, but he surprised me in his role as Ares. He does a great job at playing the program, which is thrust into the real world and wants to experience humanity. His performance is a little wooden, but I think that’s the point with the character. It’s also refreshing not to hear any strange on-set drama; however, this could easily change in the coming months.
Now, let’s discuss the soundtrack. When I saw that Daft Punk would not be returning, I was devastated. I thought that their role in “Tron: Legacy” was irreplaceable and that anything else would be a cheap knockoff. I must say I was proven wrong, because the soundtrack was great. The raw synth sound and the heavy percussion worked well for the vibe of the movie, which serves as a stark contrast to Legacy. The two films feel like two sides of the same coin, and the soundtracks really reflect their differences.
One thing that I wish I knew going in is that this film is not a sequel to Tron Legacy. It takes place chronologically after the last movie, but the two stories are essentially unrelated. Instead, the new movie feels more like a sequel to the first one, which came out in 1982. It reprises elements of the first movie, which were absent from Legacy, to provide some ’80s nostalgia. As a Tron superfan, it was a really intriguing approach, but as an average audience member, it was the main issue with the movie.
Disney took the wrong message from the Tron resurgence on social media. Fans don’t want more Tron, they want more “Tron: Legacy.” Before seeing “Tron: Ares,” I talked to one of my friends who was interested in watching it, and he had no idea there was a first movie. I feel like this is the case for most audience members and it’s really disappointing if you don’t know what to expect going in. The average moviegoer doesn’t want to see more corporate politics; they want to see more games on the grid, more lightcycle battles, more disc wars, more of what made “Tron: Legacy” feel grand.
Outside of world-building, the story itself left more to be desired. It felt like the average superhero origin story, straight out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a simple plot structure and surface-level humor. I thought it was interesting to flip the formula and have the story focus on a program coming to the real world, instead of a user going to the world of the grid, but outside of this initial subversion, it doesn’t offer more to make it stand out.
We saw multiple teases for what’s next in the series, and hopefully, the next Tron movie might bring in more elements to tie the franchise together, but with the expected box office numbers, it may be another 15 years until we see any resolution.
