It's been 15 years since Tron: Legacy lit up cinema screens with neon trails and Daft Punk's electronic pulse - and over 40 since the original Tron invited audiences into a digital frontier that felt impossibly futuristic back then. That first film might not have been a box office hit, but it became a cult classic for dreamers and tech geeks alike, a visual prophecy of our eventual AI obsession. Now, in 2025, Tron: Ares brings us back to the grid - only this time, it breaks out of it.

Director Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) takes the reins of Disney's long-dormant cyber universe, with Jared Leto leading the charge as Ares, a program brought from the digital world into the real one by Dillinger Systems' head Julian Dillinger (grandson of Ed Dillinger from the original Tron). But there's a catch: The program has a life expectancy of just 29 minutes.

It's a bold inversion of the usual Tron premise, but one that quickly runs into familiar circuitry.

While Julian aims to please his investors with this program (without mentioning its flaws), CEO of Encom Dr. Eve Kim, played by Greta Lee, is on the hunt for a "permanence code", which eliminates any time limit for the program. She wants to use that for the good of the world, and Julian, not so much. When Eve gains possession of the permanence code, Julian tasks Ares and his soldiers to capture the asset. And guess who has a change of heart? We won't spoil that for you.

Visually, Ares is spectacular. The digital aesthetics that once defined the series have evolved with modern tech, and every frame feels charged with electricity - gleaming armour, cascading light trails and an almost tactile sense of machinery and motion. A standout sequence was the bike chase that takes place in the real world.

The film thrives in IMAX, where its scale and sound design truly envelop you. And speaking of sound, Nine Inch Nails' score is thunderous. If Daft Punk made Legacy sound like a neon symphony, NIN makes Ares roar like a digital apocalypse. Safe to say we've got a new playlist to save.

But while the spectacle remains electric, the story doesn't quite break new ground. We've seen AI revolutions before - AI that feels, fights, saves, and betrays - from Ex Machina to Blade Runner 2049 to The Creator. So while Tron: Ares flirts with similar philosophical questions about creation and control, it rarely dives deep enough to make its ideas hit home. The result is a film that's visually dazzling, thematically familiar, and narratively safe.

That said, safe doesn't mean dull. It's entertaining in that weekend blockbuster way that hits all the right sensory buttons. The pacing is slick, the action sequences are kinetic, and there's enough nostalgia threaded through the code to keep longtime fans grinning. At one point, we see the OG Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, in white robes. It reminded me of the time when Harry Potter has a chat with Dumbledore after being hit with the unforgivable death spell in the final film.

The problem is longevity: you enjoy it, you talk about it for a day, and then you move on.

Jared Leto, as Ares, delivers a surprisingly restrained performance - somewhere between stoic machine and reluctant saviour. Greta Lee brings warmth and curiosity as Dr. Eve Kim, grounding the chaos with moments of human sincerity. But it's Jodie Turner-Smith who leaves the strongest impression as Athena, a program who thrives in moral ambiguity. She's the spark of menace the film needed - cool, composed, and a little bit evil.

Evan Peters, meanwhile, finds himself trapped in a subplot we've seen before, and Gillian Anderson - ever-commanding - is unfortunately underused. The emotional arcs across the board feel somewhat underdeveloped, which limits how deeply the film resonates beyond its visual sheen.

Still, it's hard to deny the craftsmanship. The light cycles look better than ever, the production design is meticulous, and the fusion of practical sets with digital augmentation gives Ares a physicality that feels refreshing for a film so tied to virtual ideas.

Tron: Ares is less about getting lost inside the grid and more about the grid spilling into us. That's an intriguing concept, now more than ever, even if the film doesn't push it as far as it could.

So, where does that leave Tron: Ares? Somewhere between upgrade and reboot. It's a visually thrilling, musically thunderous entry that honours the franchise's identity while struggling to justify its own necessity. For fans, it's a long-awaited return worth a trip to IMAX. For newcomers, it's a fun, stylish sci-fi ride with just enough voltage to keep you plugged in. But maybe not enough to stay in your memory banks for long.

Tron: Ares

Director: Joachim Rønning

Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith

Stars: 2.5/5

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