53% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 221 reviews)
Runtime: 119 minutes
Directed by: Joachim Ronning
Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Jeff Bridges… for a few minutes
From: Disney
You know, many modern movies just aren't for me... especially the blockbusters. That's why most of them aren't even viewed by me. For years now, I typically rate modern cinema lower than the majority of Letterboxd users. While it does sting that I'm incapable of enjoying the new stuff, at least there's a lot of fun in visiting or revisiting the films of the past—those are typically to my tastes anyhow.
That applies to TRON. I'm an old man in my mid-40's (my profile pic is from long ago) w/ gray hair; a nerdy tale from the 80's featuring a simple yet effective plot, actual computer jargon and amazing period effects would of course be a good time. TRON: Legacy on the other hand... as great as it looked and as neat as the Daft Punk soundtrack was, the story and characters were just rotten so it will never be beloved by me. Ares, the look and soundtrack were even better—shame that the story and characters were even worse!
The whole “Jared Leto” thing doesn't even factor into my rating. Him as a person is rather questionable, at best. Look up the stories about the CULT he apparently has! Him as an actor isn't as much a turn-off as it is for many; at the same time, to echo the thoughts of others, he's never been a box office draw so it's rather curious that they brought back a cult franchise & spent a lot of money for the budget, and somehow he'll make it not flop at the box office?! No one should have been surprised at the returns. I know he was attached to the project for years as a producer, but he wasn't a draw back then either.
I didn't hate him as the title character. What I DID hate: the utterly nonsense plot which pays lip service to the idea of AI & our future yet the story is about an insufferable caricature of a tech CEO who is allowed to cause much havoc and is a massive buffoon as he attempts to bring digital constructs to reality before ENCOM does. Of course there are plenty of buffoon CEO's IRL (none of whom will be named by me; I don't want to stir up that drama) but Julian Dillinger reminds me how awful most villains are written in these modern times-even worse is that he's related to a key character from the OG film & that OG character wasn't a jackass and was an actual credible threat for our heroes to face.
The predictability of the plot isn't necessarily a demerit, speaking generally. However, I was never given a reason to care about too many of the characters-whether it was the actual credible antagonist nor even the lead portrayed by Greta Lee. The reader likely won't be surprised that the odious “comic” relief character Seth was one where not even a smile was cracked by me at his idiocy. Another problem with the movies today: unneeded “comedy.” A third issue: on-the-nose dialogue. Ares is full of that as well.
It stinks that the movie was an empty spectacle; the aesthetics were great, especially if you got to see the Dolby Cinema 3D version like I did. The digital worlds were stunning-you can probably surmise which one thrilled me the most. The NIN score was awesome; there are many different genres through the decades that are neat-that includes Nine Inch Nails in general. That helped keep my interest in a lame story. Evidently, in the digital world Ares resides in, Depeche Mode and Mozart are a thing. Mode, I know a few songs besides the radio hits; they're cool.
I also had to entertain myself by chuckling at such moments as spotting a supporting character who looked quite a bit like Lily Collins. As I had no problem with Sarah Desjardnis nor her performance in her small role, no sarcastic comments will be made concerning who she resembles.
As I have to proclaim often now, I'm glad people like something modern more than I did. It even received a passing grade from someone I know on a messageboard... he's a huge TRON fan and loves the first two films. He wanted a third installment so bad-but Jared Leto is one of his least-favorites. It's like he wished on a Monkey's Paw! He liked rather than loved Ares—the character and the film.
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