Tron: Ares, the third live-action film in the long-running sci-fi franchise, hit theaters on Friday. This time around, the story brings the digital beings from the Grid into our world. A Program named Ares (played by Jared Leto) leads the charge and is sent on a mission to retrieve a coveted collection of zeroes and ones, a MacGuffin referred to in the movie as The Permanence Code. This hunt turns into a race for survival on multiple fronts.
Leto may lead the call sheet on this one, but he's backed up by a solid roster of talent: Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, Arturo Castro and Jeff Bridges.
If you read my review of the movie, you'll know I enjoyed Tron: Ares. Like the previous entries in the franchise, this new movie, which was directed by Joachim Rønning, is fueled by tantalizing special effects and thrilling action sequences. The score by Nine Inch Nails adds a whole other narrative, cinematic quality to things, immersing you deeper into this universe.
Similar to 1982's Tron and 2010's Tron: Legacy, the narrative structure and writing proved to be the weakest links in Tron: Ares's overall package. That said, plenty of details kept my attention -- most notably the movie's ending and the pre-credits sequence that followed.
It goes without saying that if you haven't seen Tron: Ares yet, stop here. There are spoilers below.
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Gillian Anderson and Evan Peters star in Tron: Ares. Disney
Tron: Ares' ending explained
It's all about the Permanence Code. Dillinger Systems CEO Julian Dillinger (Peters) wants it for money, power and influence. Dillinger has been able to bring Programs from his Grid into the real world, but they only survive for 29 minutes before disintegrating from our reality.
With the code, Dillinger would be able to keep Ares here indefinitely, which would be ideal, considering how much he wants to sell the Program to the military as the next generation of weaponry. Eve Kim (Lee), the head of ENCOM, wants the code for good reasons: to discover scientific breakthroughs and cultivate a positive future for humanity.
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