If you’re not familiar with my movie rating system, here’s a brief explanation: more complex than a thumbs-up/thumbs down system and more specific than an undefined star rating, my system rates seven factors of a story, assigning one star for each entertaining element.
Drawing power 1
Interest factor 1
Offensive factor 1
Range of emotion 1
Character factor 1
Style 0
Length 1
In Tron: Ares, there were great performances by Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Evan Peters, and Greta Lee, to name a few. There was only one character who seemed annoying, but he had endearing moments.
The storyline had the draw to pull me in and there were enough plot elements to keep the movie interesting for me. Even though the trailer made the plot look dull and lifeless, it was not.
Style gets a zero, not because there was no style in the movie. It had great amounts of style. The music though was only mediocre. Especially since the movie tries to idolize one of the worst songs ever written, and that is “Just Can’t Get Enough” by Depeche Mode. That song, by the way, has one of the most ironic titles of a song as well, because, as anyone who has ever been forced to listen to it can testify, after the fourth reiteration of the title, which happens to also be every verse and chorus, you will be screaming angrily that you’ve had ENOUGH.
Offensive factor gets a star point because there really wasn’t anything offensive in the movie. Parents could watch the movie first to see if they agree. If you’re a more loose-control style of parent, you could just let your kid watch this without worries.
Despite being about artificial intelligence, the movie, and even the characters playing the AI, had great emotional range.
The length was fit for an Alfred Hitchcock viewing. Not too long on time, not too short on time. 1 hour, 59 minutes.
End result: Tron Ares gets 6 out of 7 stars.
By the way, the basic plot is that there is an AI created to be a soldier–Ares (played by Jared Leto). His purpose is questionable, and since he is built to learn, he begins questioning his purpose. His form is also, like a soldier, expendable. Perhaps because he is expendable, he is also temporary. Being temporary gets in the way of helping others, so a pursuit ensues for the bad side and the good side alike to recover a “permanence code”. The visuals are wonderful. For anyone wishing to escape for a while into a digital realm, this could be a beneficial diversion.
Xenosthesia.com 