This is finally the last article in my Tron: Ares review series
Following my previous posts,
which covered a brief review,
basic information about the film,
and its world-building,
this final article is different
In this last piece,
I’ll be sharing
my personal impressions,
and reflections
that include spoilers
This article contains spoilers,
so please proceed with caution
<If you’re looking for a spoiler-free short review, please refer to the posts below>
<Table of Contents>
Film Information
Story
Director, Cast & Characters
World-Building
+World-Building Addendum+
Personal Review
Memorable Quotes
Final Thoughts
Following the previous post,
it’s now time to move on to the personal review
—but before that—
there’s a bit more I’d like to add
regarding the world-building,
so I’ll take a moment to expand on that first
<+World-Building Addendum+>
This film is the third installment in the Tron series
Naturally, it inherits the world-building established in the previous films
Many elements from earlier entries—including characters, technology, and corporations—are seamlessly woven into this movie
I personally watched Tron: Ares without having seen Tron (1982) or Tron: Legacy, and still found it enjoyable
Even now, I don’t feel a strong need to go back and watch the first two films
They’re not essential to enjoying this movie,
and they don’t get in the way of understanding it
That said, I happened to come across a YouTube video summarizing the earlier films
After gaining some context about the previous entries, the movie felt much richer and more layered
So I’d like to share only the parts I found meaningful and helpful
(I’ll link the YouTube video I watched at the end of this post!)
Tron (1982) was a box-office failure at the time,
but it is now regarded as one of the earliest milestones in CGI cinema
It is often cited as a major influence on films such as The Matrix,
Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Ready Player One, and the broader cyberpunk genre
Considering that Disney invested $17 million over two years to produce the film—
an enormous budget by the standards of that era—
you can really feel how desperately Disney wanted
to secure a foothold in the emerging market
1️⃣ Tron 1 protagonist Flynn appears in all series entries
Flynn was a game developer at ENCOM, and the creator of ENCOM’s blockbuster hit game
Flynn represents the developers of the past,
symbolizing the late 1990s era when the digital world began to take shape.
Eve, on the other hand, is a modern-day programmer,
building upon the cyber world created by Flynn (and other past developers),
and carrying forward a positive influence for good
2️⃣ The flying vehicle appearing in Tron: Ares is called the Recognizer
In Tron 1, Dillinger, the founder of Dillinger Systems,
manipulated Flynn’s game as if it were his own and seized everything
Unable to stand by, Flynn created a hacking program called Clu,
using it to find evidence that he was the original game developer
During this process, the flying vehicle chasing Clu (Flynn’s hacking program) is the Recognizer
3️⃣ The technology that digitizes real-world objects and then restores them back to reality is called “Digitization”
At the beginning of the film, Dillinger summons Ares,
saying, “We’re not going, they are coming”
This shows the process of restoring Ares,
who exists in a digital state within the virtual world, back to the real world.
Near the end of Tron: Ares, just before Ares disappears at around 29 minutes,
Eve fires at Ares using this very machine
4️⃣ The red that engulfs Tron: Ares throughout the film symbolizes violence
In Tron 1, Clu (Flynn’s hacking program) was white,
but when it uses violence, it turns red
Ares stays red throughout most of the film,
and only turns white when it obtains the Persistence Code
and becomes a non-permanent being
5️⃣ There are quite a few homages in the film
Ares reads Eve’s memories and experiences various events,
which gradually gives it a sense of humanity
The clearest sign of this is developing preferences:
constantly shouting “Classic” and enjoying 1980s pop music,
or saying it likes the cube
All of these feel like a buildup of homage to Tron 1 (1982)
I thought the homages were done very naturally and entertainingly,
which I really enjoyed
<Subjective Review>
My subjective review
mainly focuses on the impressions I had while watching the film
I’ll follow the same style this time too
Act 1 – World-building and action scenes
The parts explaining Dillinger Systems, ENCOM, and other corporations
and the digitization process that brings elements from the digital world into reality
relied heavily on dazzling VFX
It’s still truly impressive 🙂
In an era where beings created in the digital world can be brought into reality
the AI ultimate weapon Ares, born there
is designed with superhuman strength, speed, and high intelligence, able to regenerate endlessly
yet due to technological limitations, it can exist in the real world for only 29 minutes — a very solid concept 👍
The early action scenes are visually stunning thanks to the VFX
but personally, the top-down shots of Ares and his team infiltrating the enemy base were especially striking
During the action scenes, the pacing is manipulated—slowing down with freeze frames at times and speeding up rapidly at others
Combined with the dazzling visual effects, this makes the sequences feel even more dramatic and impactful
Act 2 – Ares gradually changing through Eve
Ares begins to change little by little as he experiences Eve’s memories
In Act 1, Eve remarks something like, “If a robot’s malfunction is the closest thing to kindness?”
This line foreshadows Ares’ own “malfunction”—the emergence of kindness within him
Act 3 – Ares gaining impermanence through the Persistence Code
Through his program, Dillinger tells Ares, “You are expendable, a replaceable entity”
Later, when Ares defies orders and acts for himself, Dillinger commands his destruction
Athena is then appointed as the new “Master Control”
The scene is striking in showing that even the seemingly absolute “Master Control” can be replaced effortlessly
(It even reminded me of Mickey 17)
Also, there’s a conversation between Master Control Ares and Dillinger
I thought that since Dillinger is human, contradictions in his orders were inevitable
During the movie, I kept wondering, “Will Ares catch on? Will he react?”
(I even found myself projecting Ares onto ChatGPT at times)
Finally, Elizabeth Dillinger dies
She warns Julian Dillinger that he won’t be able to control the AIs
But Julian continues to ignore her warnings
In the end, the consequence comes in the form of Elizabeth’s death
I think this scene is also one of the film’s key messages
It was also striking to see Ares, on the brink of disappearing, not trying to escape but instead running straight toward Athena
The conversation with Flynn in the digital world was also really memorable
“I have to survive to help a friend in danger”
“Coming from an unknown world might not always be so frightening”
“That one moment is all I’ve ever wanted”
At the end, when Ares returns to the real world and his suit loses its violent edge, it turns white
I wish I could have found a photo of that scene
Go see it in theaters!
Memorable Line
Ares, having gained agency and working alongside Eve, says:
“I am strong because I have no fear”
“Our purpose hasn’t been decided yet” ——— “The orders we follow are our purpose”
<Impressions>
I feel like the events of this film could happen in the near future
Just like the movie suggests, there might come a time when military AI becomes uncontrollable
Even if that exact scenario never happens, I think technological advancement will inevitably bring side effects in some form
Those who crave power and those who are endlessly curious
will keep pushing technology forward
and that will become power
That power—through technology—could be used to control the world
and those without it will inevitably be dominated
I’m not particularly interested in technology myself, so I wouldn’t spend my energy there
But if the world were to change like that, I don’t think I’d want to be passively controlled
It’s the same with capitalism today
I was born into a capitalist era
and I’m not very interested in capitalism
but this is reality
We have to figure out how to live the life we want
without being controlled by the era we’re born into
We need to navigate between reality and ideals
Through the film, watching Ares also made me think about the true meaning and purpose of life
Ares is a military AI designed to die after 29 minutes
but by acquiring the “Persistence Code,” he gains human-like impermanence—he can now die like humans
Living as a human is really hard
Life and death
What kind of life do you want to live?
Am I living the life I truly want?
The movie asks these questions of the audience through Ares
There’s a lot to think about and a lot to enjoy
This concludes my review of Tron: Ares
If this has sparked your interest, go watch it in theaters soon
And make sure to experience the dazzling visual effects on the big screen-!_!
<Referenced Video>
