The Tron franchise has never been a critical darling, but it’s gained a cult following over the years thanks to its distinct aesthetic and fascinating premise. Its enduring popularity is why Tron: Ares was made after a third installment lingered in development hell for a prolonged period of time. Over a decade after Tron: Legacy hit theaters, Ares is now gearing up for its own highly anticipated release, looking to help Disney rebound from what’s been a fairly uneven year at the box office so far. One thing that would give the movie’s box office prospects a boost is solid word of mouth, and now the first wave of reviews are in.
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On Rotten Tomatoes, Tron: Ares currently has a critics score of 58%, with 53 reviews counted. While that’s a far cry from a Certified Fresh mark, Ares has a higher score than its predecessor. Tron: Legacy has a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. The original Tron has the franchise’s best score with 60%.
What Are Critics Saying About Tron: Ares?
No critics consensus for Tron: Ares is available yet, but a scan over the published reviews will give people a general idea about the film’s pros and cons. On the positive side of the spectrum, the movie’s stunning visuals are consistently cited as a highlight. Spectacle has long been the franchise’s calling card, so it doesn’t come as a shock that Tron: Ares delivers in that department. The film is playing in premium formats like IMAX, and it looks to take full advantage of that with immersive action set pieces. The score composed by Nine Inch Nails has also received praise, which is an encouraging sign. Tron: Legacy‘s Daft Punk soundtrack was widely acclaimed, so Nine Inch Nails had big shoes to fill.
Perhaps the biggest criticism is that Tron: Ares has a fairly thin story that’s weak on characterization and thematic depth. This critique is par for the course for the franchise; Tron: Legacy earned mixed reviews because it was seen as more style over substance, with a narrative that failed to live up to the impressive visuals on display. It’s somewhat disappointing that Tron: Ares seemingly did not make any strides on that front. With the prevalence of AI and constantly evolving technology in today’s society, now seemed like the ideal time for a new Tron movie — one that could have done a deep dive into our relationship with tech.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this word of mouth has on Tron: Ares‘ box office projections. Initial estimates released in September pegged the film to earn roughly $44 million domestically in its opening weekend, which would be in the same ballpark as Legacy‘s debut. This year, we’ve seen numerous films exceed box office expectations, but a common denominator in those cases was enthusiastic critical response. Tron: Ares doesn’t appear to be an abject disaster, but it also isn’t earning universal praise across the board. People who are on the fence about checking it out could see the response and opt to wait until it comes out on Disney+ to watch it. If the reviews were stronger, Ares might have had a better shot at surprising people.
The Tron: Ares Rotten Tomatoes score will likely fluctuate over the next few days as more reviews come in. As a comparison, there are 249 reviews for Tron: Legacy on the aggregator, so we’ve only seen a fraction of the write-ups for Tron: Ares. Based on the way things are going so far, it seems unlikely Ares will go on a hot streak and soar up to a Certified Fresh mark, but there’s still a chance it could surpass the original Tron and become the franchise’s highest-rated installment. Though Ares hasn’t earned raves, maybe it’ll follow its predecessor’s footsteps and become a cult classic of its own one day.
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