What there is to appreciate about Tron: Ares, and a nod to Harlan Ellison's I, Robot Screenplay
What there is to appreciate about Tron: Ares, and a nod to Harlan Ellison's I, Robot Screenplay
by Jen Davies, nerd
Oct 30, 2025
Note: Full of spoilers.
Folks are not satisfied with Tron: Ares. I went into it with my brain shut off and enjoyed it, however I understand all the criticisms. Let me point out a few things you might enjoy, if you're on the fence about seeing it.
If you haven't read the script for I, Robot by Harlan Ellison, never made as a film but available in novel format, please read it. It is unrelated to any movie that has been made. It's fantastic, based on the many short stories about Robbie the Robot by Isaac Asimov. It's a complex story. The simplified thread that ties the stories together, as Ellison told it, is a human woman (Susan Calvin) who receives help from robots throughout her life which all turn out to be Robbie. As I recall, her first encounter with Robbie is in a factory that her father manages. Susan is a child and she stumbles into some danger (it's a factory, after all) and an industrial robot (Robbie) protects her, which the 3 Laws require. BUT as she continues to receive help from Robbie throughout her life, and as she becomes Dr. Calvin (humanity's foremost specialist on robots) it seems like the robot behaves differently toward her than other robots do - more attentive than the 3 Laws require. There is no romantic plot here - Robbie is a big, blocky industrial robot, think Boston Dynamics' Big Dog. But our perspective character begins to see him as a friend. Is she anthropomorphizing? Probably, and yet Robbie doesn't treat other humans the same way, so at some point she intervenes to prevent him being recycled, if I remember correctly. It's been at least 15 years since I've read it, I may have the details wrong.
I couldn't stop remembering this script/book as I watched Tron: Ares. And since we are unlikely ever to get a I, Robot movie based on the Ellison interpretation of Asimov, this isn't a bad Tron-themed version.
That story sounds like Eve and Ares a little bit, right? It should. Eve grew up around digital items and “people” - hence her and her sister’s efforts to find permanence. Ares is an industrial product which develops an interest in one particular human (Eve), and goes out of his way to assist her. Yes, in theory it's for a selfish reason (he is tired of dying/rebooting because he does not feel “expendable” and he would like to be permanent - she can help). There is no romantic subplot - and it's great that they didn't go there. The film is full of so many tropes, and the moment where the romantic bit would have occurred (in the dash in the Honda to save Ares) it is indirectly but deliberately rejected in the conversation between them. That was refreshing.
The acting was also quite strong, so I disagree with the people who complained that Jared Leto’s performance was wooden. It was supposed to be emotionally stiff - he was playing a “robot” after all. And a security system at that, so we shouldn't expect an expressive AI in Ares. Greta Lee as Eve was excellent, and I really did care what happened to her.
Finally, it's a big-screen spectacle, so go see it there if you plan to. Most theatres still do Cheap Tuesdays! The FX were very good in IMAX which is how I saw it, and I did not regret it.
#tron #tronares #jaredleto #gretalee
Learn more about Harlan Ellison's never-made script: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot
Photo from https://attractionsmagazine.com/tron-ares-movie-review-2025/
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