Ron Does Stuff

I just checked, and it turns out that Tron: Legacy was 15 YEARS AGO. I can hear my spine caving in on itself. I can feel my flesh melting off my bones. I can hear my bones crumble into dust. I watched Tron: Ares yesterday.

Tron: Ares is set years after Tron: Legacy, with Sam Flynn gone from ENCOM and in his place is Eve Kim, a new CEO who is looking for the Permanence Code, which will allow things taken from the Grid to exist in the real world permanently. This is because currently, all things that go from the Grid to the real world last for only 29 minutes.

Eve’s rival is Julian Dillinger, from the same line of Dillingers in the previous films. They’re both looking for the Permanence Code, but while Eve wants to use it to bring resources from the Grid and solve problems in the real world, Julian is hoping to use it to create an endless supply of weapons and soldiers to sell.

Julian’s biggest success so far has been Ares, a program meant to defend the Grid. But when Ares begins to buckle against the programming that Julian Dillinger has imposed on him — which soon includes “deleting” Eve from existence — the repercussions extend beyond the Grid and into the real world.

Like I said before, it’s been 15 YEARS since I saw Tron: Legacy, and what I remember the most from it is how visually striking it was, and how great the Daft Punk soundtrack was. I remember playing that over and over, it was so great.

Stream the soundtrack on Spotify too!

Those same things still remain in Tron: Ares, from the striking image of the Grid drones leaving orange trails of light in the real world to another excellent soundtrack, this time from Nine Inch Nails.

Stream it on Spotify too!

In fact, when it comes to fully utilizing its striking visual elements, I think Tron: Ares has Tron: Legacy beat. Aside from the image of the drones and their orange trails of light in the night sky, the idea of the light trails are also used in the fight scenes to great effect. Combined with the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, Tron: Ares is definitely a movie you see in the theaters.

When it comes to the plot and story…well, I don’t think any of the Tron films are remembered for the story. Tron: Ares does build on the foundation that Tron: Legacy laid down, telling us another family story, this time around centered on Eve and her relationship with her recently deceased sister. And just like Quorra in Tron: Legacy, Ares is curious about what it is like to be human. Are any of the films thought and ideas about human existence groundbreaking? Not particularly, but is that really why you’re watching a Tron film?

If there’s one thing that can detract from one’s enjoyment of the film, it’s the times we’re living in right now. In a world where tech CEOs have enabled the rise of fascism not just in the United States but elsewhere in the world, this movie ~dares~ to look to them for salvation. It’s a good thing that they cast Evan Peters as the antagonist CEO, because it would have been harder to suspend one’s disbelief to expect a white man tech bro to do what’s best for humanity rather than what’s best for his own interests.

If you’re looking for a visual spectacle with a great soundtrack, Tron: Ares is definitely a must-see. And if you can’t afford it, see it on IMAX!

Take a look at some of the photos I took at the premiere!