Story

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) mysteriously disappears after creating the ‘Grid’, a digital ecosystem where programs live, evolve and interact with the world outside. Rumour has it, Kevin invented a Permanence Code which would enable artificial intelligence (AI) to live within the real world. World class programmer and CEO of the ENCON Corporation, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is obsessed with locating and unlocking this hidden Code and travels to the ends of the Earth to do so.

Meanwhile, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) leads the tech conglomerate founded by his grandfather and uses his technical expertise to weaponise the Grid’s capabilities, seeking power and personal gain. He develops a security software called Ares (Jared Leto) and makes him master control of the Grid, while showcasing the military advantages of having AI soldiers and machinery. The only problem is that his AI does not last longer than half an hour in the real world before they self-destruct. Julian is desperate to get his hands on the Permanence Code and sends soldiers after Eve to take it from her.

When Ares experiences a moment of compassion from Eve, he begins to see humans differently and questions his orders. When Eve’s life is endangered, Ares defies Julian’s command and helps her return to the real world in exchange for her sharing the Performance Code and allowing him to live. Julian sends an army of AI to stop Eve from helping Ares and to gain total control of the Code once and for all but his ambition has unforeseen consequences, resulting in mass destruction of parts of the city and the loss of someone he’d always loved.

Themes

Death of a family member; lack of identity; control; rebellion; artificial intelligence; digital conscience; excessive greed and an insatiable thirst for power

Violence

Tron: Ares has some violence. For example:

• The legs of digital characters are cut off.
• A brute force attack causes digital characters to implode.
• A police car is sliced in half with a laser.
• During a high speed chase, a bus and motorbike nearly crash and Eve hits her motorcycle into another character.
• A baby in a car is nearly hit by a motorbike.
• Eve flips through the air and crashes her bike into a shed.
• A gun sucks Eve into the Grid.
• Ares is repeatedly instructed to extract the Code and delete the carrier, meaning that he must kill Eve.
• When Ares refuses to kill Eve, another soldier is put in his place and instructed to kill both Ares and Eve.
• Soldiers attack Eve and Ares as they fall through a window and into the water below.
• Eve steals a truck and drives through the gate of a company.
• A mother slaps her son in the face.
• An AI soldier smashes into Eve’s office with a futuristic flying machine.
• One character throat-punches another.
• A character tips over game consoles and nearly crushes Eve.
• A character kills Julian Dillinger’s mother by stabbing her in the stomach.
• An AI army comes to attack Eve and take the Code from her by any means possible.
• An AI soldier shoots down a police helicopter and an entire building explodes.
• An AI airship deflects numerous military missiles that are locked onto it, causing them to explode elsewhere.
• A plane is cut in half by lasers.
• Eve is trapped in a blazing AI circle, generated by lasers and light.
• The AI airship is attacked and crashes into a building, causing debris to fall on Eve.
• A character abducts Eve and crashes into a bunch of cars as she tries to escape. Ares stops the vehicle.
• Ares and an AI soldier fight each other, kicking, punching and hitting one another as their weapons are out of reach. Ares smashes the soldier’s helmet from its head and slices off the characters hand. The character then crumbles into dust.
• Julian uses lasers to suck himself into the Grid once he realises the authorities are coming for him.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Tron: Ares.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in Tron: Ares.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Tron: Ares.

Product placement

Tron: Ares has some product placement – for example, the band Depeche Mode is repeatedly mentioned.

Coarse language

There’s no coarse language in Tron: Ares.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Tron: Ares is an action-packed, science fiction movie featuring fast-paced combat, multiple chase scenes and numerous special effects. The movie is a loose continuation of the previous Tron moviess, keeping certain key elements but introducing a new, stand-alone, storyline. The movie is best suited to viewers aged over 13 years.

The main message from Tron: Ares is that we should not allow the limitations placed on us by society or other individuals to define our identities or what we can become.

Values in Tron: Ares that you could reinforce with your children include compassion, teamwork, courage, kindness, curiosity and respect.

Tron: Ares could also give you the chance to talk with your children about these issues from the movie:

• Becoming heavily dependent on technology and forgetting the best aspects of what it means to be human.
• The dangers of supressing your identity.
• The exploitation of technology for corporate greed.
• The blurring of ethical boundaries and attempting to retain control at any cost.