A big, empty spectacle of a movie, TRON: Ares is what happens when a franchise decides that a cyberpunk aesthetic alone is enough to carry a series. As a purely audio-visual experience, it’s a serviceably neon-soaked theater seat rocker, but the blasé script never locks onto anything narratively compelling or really has any justification for this story coming back to life after a 15-year hiatus. It relies entirely on expensive-looking action set pieces and a ripping Nine Inch Nails score to distract from the gaping void at its center, and might be able to pull off just that magic trick if not for the almost total lack of emotional calibration. Despite a solid cast that includes Greta Lee, Jared Leto, Evan Peters, and, randomly, Hasan Minhaj, the film struggles to make its characters feel like anything other than algorithmic husks. The story’s lack of emotional stakes only amplifies how fundamentally unfeeling this movie manages to be. Read More