Midweek Mention... Tron Ares

This one starts the way all great cinema analysis starts: Dan’s birthday sandwich (father-in-law today, Dan tomorrow, Mrs the day after), a bit of life admin, and then straight into neon sci-fi with Tron: Ares.If your Tron knowledge is basically “glowing lines, lightbikes, and that vibe,” you’re fine — this film mostly plays in the real world, and asks a simple question: what happens when programs from the Grid step into reality?The hookTwo tech giants are racing to crack the next breakthrough:ENCOM, led by visionary philanthropist Eve Kim (trying to build tech that helps the world)Dillinger Systems, led by Julian Dillinger (weaponising the future)Dillinger’s flex is terrifyingly straightforward: laser-built constructs — vehicles, weapons, even soldiers — “printed” instantly into existence. The catch (and the film’s ticking clock): these creations normally degrade after ~29 minutes.What we dig intoAres (Jared Leto) as a “program-soldier”: built for control, but quickly starts developing something dangerously human — curiosity, empathy, judgement.The “permanence code” McGuffin: Flynn’s old work hints at a way to make constructs last — which flips the film from flashy demo into existential threat (and/or world-changing miracle).A full-on real-world lightbike chase: glowing trails carving through traffic, near-misses, collateral chaos — the biggest “this is why Tron exists” sequence.AI awakening… without deep philosophy: it doesn’t pretend to be Ex Machina. It’s more “stylish action thriller” than serious tech parable — and we call that out.Athena as the escalation engine: when the second-in-command takes “by any means necessary” literally, the film goes from corporate rivalry to open urban warfare.The ending teases: Dillinger’s next evolution, Ares going rogue, and sequel-bait that actually works.The verdictWe’re blunt about it: this film isn’t saying anything profound about humanity and technology. What it is doing is delivering a clean, coherent action plot, a proper ticking-clock hook, and a visual/audio assault that feels like a two-hour music video in the best way.Even the resident sci-fi sceptic came out surprised: watchable, clear stakes, great set-pieces, banging soundtrack — and sometimes that’s enough.If you want an episode where we:break down the plot without pretending it’s smarter than it is,obsess over the chase scenes and Grid aesthetics,and argue whether “29 minutes to live” is a flaw or a feature……press play.You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com. Until next time, we remain... Bad Dads