Tron: Ares“, the third live-action film in the long-running sci-fi franchise, opened in theaters on Friday. This time the story brings digital creatures from the Grid into our world. A program named Ares (played by Jared Leto) leads the attack and is sent on a mission to find the treasured collection of zeros and ones, a MacGuffin that the film calls the “Persistence Code.” This hunt turns into a race for survival on several fronts.
Leto may top this list, but he's backed by a solid roster of talent: Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, Arturo Castro and Jeff Bridges.
If you are reading my review of the filmyou know, I liked Tron: Ares. Like previous installments in the franchise, this new film, directed by Joachim Rönning, is filled with tantalizing special effects and exciting action scenes. The music of Nine Inch Nails gives things a completely different narrative, cinematic feel, immersing you deeper into this universe.
Similar to Tron 1982 and 2010s. Tron: LegacyThe narrative structure and script were the weakest links in Tron: Ares' overall package. However, there were a lot of details that caught my attention – most notably the film'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.
Read more: 11 Best Sci-Fi Movies to Stream on Prime Video
Gillian Anderson and Evan Peters star in Tron: Ares.
Tron: Ares' Ending Explained
It's all about the Code of Constancy. Dillinger Systems CEO Julian Dillinger (Peters) wants it for the money, power and influence. Dillinger managed to transfer the Programs from his Grid into the real world, but they only live for 29 minutes before disappearing from our reality.
With the code, Dillinger will be able to keep Ares here indefinitely, which would be ideal considering how badly he wants to sell the Program to the military as a next-generation weapon. Eva Kim (Lee), head of ENCOM, wants the codex for good reasons: to discover scientific breakthroughs and create a positive future for humanity.
Needless to say, Dillinger never expected Ares to give up his programming. Like Tron: Legacy's Quorra (Olivia Wilde) before him, Ares turns out to be a digital being with a greater desire to become human. This need makes him an additional target for Dillinger, who forces Athena (Turner-Smith), Ares' second-in-command after him and Lee, to obtain the code by any means necessary.
She took the “by any means necessary” part of Dillinger's directive to heart, killing his mother Elizabeth in the process, and created the Recognizer from the video game Space Paranoids using the giant lasers of Dillinger's 3D printer and brought it into the real world.
Jodie Turner-Smith will star in Tron: Ares.
The final boss battle began between Athena and Ares, who completed the side quest in Kevin Flynn's Grid (Bridges), received the Code of Permanence (or Impermanence, according to Flynn) and returned as a full human. After a colorful street brawl, Ares emerged victorious with the help of Kim's ENCOM buddies, who planted a virus in the Dillinger Grid, ending all digital chaos.
A few months later, Kim achieved the technical achievements I mentioned earlier with this code. On a wave of success, she receives a postcard from Ares. We see him in a European café, living “off the grid”, with perfectly coiffed hair and fresh clothes. It is here that he mentions a new mission to find others like him.
He looks at an old newspaper clipping of Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) and a photo of Quorra, who was seen riding off into the proverbial sunset on Sam's motorcycle in the final moments of Tron: Legacy. Remember, Quorra was once bound to the Grid as a program, but Flynn freed her in the 2010 film. (I'm guessing she found the Code of Permanence, no problem?)
What does the Tron: Ares pre-credits scene mean?
After Ares rides off into the sunset on his motorcycle—and after a short musical snippet of Nine Inch Nails' “As Alive as You Need Me to Be”—it all comes back to Ed Dillinger.
He was credited with all the damage on the streets, and his facility was eventually infiltrated by a large contingent of law enforcement officers. With nowhere to go and no accountability for his actions, Dillinger activated his big red lasers. When cops swarm in with guns drawn, Dillinger is caught in the Grid of his computer system.
In the final moments of the film, Dillinger finds himself in the building where Ares and Athena used to live. He soon finds the Dillinger Systems disk and is digitally shocked when activated. The glowing silhouette of Sark, original Master Control program Created by Julian's grandfather, Ed Dillinger (David Warner), former president of ENCOM in 1982's Tron, appears to be superimposed on his body.
What could this mean? Well, this episode, along with Ares' curiosity about Quorra, hints that another Tron movie is in the works. May be. It all depends on how well Tron: Ares does at the box office. However, the idea of ​​a Tron 4 where Ares and Quorra team up against Dillinger and the revival of Dillinger's MCP sounds really cool. Fingers crossed it happens.
