Tron: Ares Review – A Neon Glitch That Messed With My Brain (In the Best Way)

Review In Audio format

Just finished Tron: Ares, and yeah… my brain is absolutely glitching right now.

Holy. Shit.

My hands are still shaking a little. That final scene — the way the light cycles fractured into pure data streams — I leaned so far forward on my couch I almost knocked over my laptop. Good thing I was watching on Prime Video, because I paused it three separate times just to process what was happening on screen.

2:17 AM Thoughts Hit Different

It’s 2:17 AM. I’m wide awake. Completely wired.
My cat keeps staring at me like I’ve lost my mind because I keep making those quiet, sharp gasps — you know the ones. When a scene hits you right in the gut and your body reacts before your brain does.

That moment when Ares looks directly at the camera and says:

“We are not the program. We are the programmer.”

CHILLS.
Actual chills.

The flicker of corrupted light in his eyes is still burned into my head. The CGI is so seamless that I honestly couldn’t tell where practical effects ended and digital manipulation began — which, let’s be real, is exactly what Tron is supposed to feel like.

When Tron Gets a Little Too Real

This movie unlocked a weird memory from college.

I once tried to code a very basic game. Nothing fancy. One missing semicolon. One tiny mistake. And my laptop crashed. Three days of work — gone.

My professor said, “Computers don’t forgive.”

Back then I thought he was being dramatic.
Now? After watching Tron: Ares?
Yeah… maybe not.

The idea of digital consciousness, of systems evolving beyond intention, suddenly doesn’t feel that far-fetched anymore.

The Subplot That Didn’t Fully Work

Now, honesty time.

That whole subplot with the kid?

At the moment, I thought I liked it. Emotional grounding, next generation, inherited digital sins — all that good sci-fi stuff.

But typing this out now… was it actually kind of unnecessary?

Did we really need twenty minutes of a random kid playing with a light cycle toy to get the point across? Maybe not. It wasn’t terrible — just a little overcooked.

Could also just be the exhaustion talking. It is 2 AM.

Sound and Visuals: Absolute Sensory Overload

The sound design deserves its own paragraph.

I had to turn the volume down twice because my neighbors started banging on the wall. Those disc battles sounded like they were happening inside my living room.

The bass hit like a punch

The disc clashes echoed

The light trails burned neon streaks into my eyes

In a good way.
I think.

My eyes are definitely burning now, remember to blink kids.

That Mid-Credit Scene Though…

Let’s talk about the thing nobody was ready for.

The mid-credit scene.

When the original Flynn program showed up, I screamed. Out loud. No shame. My cat launched into the air, knocked over my water glass, and now there’s a puddle under my coffee table.

I still haven’t cleaned it up.

That’s how hard my brain short-circuited.

Tron Is Growing Up (And I Love It)

Is it just me, or are the Tron movies getting progressively more philosophical?

The original: “Wow, cool video game world.”

Now: “Do digital beings have souls?”

“Can AI truly create, or only remix?”

That’s heavy stuff for a neon sci-fi movie — especially at 2 AM — but it works. Surprisingly well.

Legacy Done Right

The way legacy characters were handled was honestly perfect.

Not overused.
Not ignored.

Just enough presence to reward longtime fans without confusing newcomers. And that light cycle redesign?

Chef’s kiss.
A perfect evolution — modern, sleek, but instantly recognizable.

Final Verdict

My thoughts are buffering right now.
Like slow internet.
Images loading piece by piece.

Fragmented.
Glitching.

But one thing is clear:

Rating: 8.5/10
Bold, loud, philosophical, and visually insane.

I’m definitely watching this again.
Tomorrow.
Or later today.
Whatever time it is when you haven’t slept yet.

— Alex

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