While I’m waiting for my non-existent Disney check to clear, Ares is exactly what fans of the franchise have wanted since the original.

Before The Matrix, there was “The Grid.” Video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) created a program named Tron to find evidence that ENCOM CEO Ed Dillinger (David Warner) had stolen credit for Flynn’s work; Flynn helped defeat the Master Control Program literally as a User among Programs in the digital frontier. A generation later, Tron: Legacy continued with Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) inside the machine once again, defeating evil Programs to the sounds of Daft Punk and amazing visuals bogged down in an existential storyline. In present day, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) is searching through Flynn’s past work to make cyberspace constructs remain stable in the real world, from fruit trees to battle tanks. Overcoming the reputation of his disgraced father, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) and his mother Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson) are looking for the secret as well, not only to fabricate weapons on demand but also loyal yet expendable soldiers answerable to the highest bidder. When Julian learns Eve may have cracked the code he desperately needs, he sends his security programs Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) to retrieve the woman and the information she carries… by any means necessary.

When Disney created Tron back in 1982, no one had seen anything like it before. While many of the concepts seemed inherently silly (remember O.G. cosplayer Tron Guy or the TV show “Automan?”) it captured the imagination far beyond the fun little story it told. The science fiction, however, repurposed good ol’ “Star Trek” transporters and replicators to get into and out of cyberspace. Three decades later, modern moviemaking took us back to the Grid only to find out our Facebook app was dating our Twitter feed at a programs-only nightclub between gladiatorial games. Um, sure, okay. Although this real-world Ares idea seems new, it was already explored way back in the 1995 film Virtuosity, putting killer program Sid 6.7 into a nano-machine android to wreak havoc… also set to a rave soundtrack. In a world where hobbyists can print functioning firearms and artificial intelligence is being integrated into everything, the most unbelievable part of this movie is modelling the perfect soldier on Jared Leto instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Are audiences ready to grab their identity disks and straddle a light cycle again, or is it time the studio bulldozed Flynn’s Arcade once and for all?

With Nine Inch Nails taking over from Daft Punk on the soundtrack and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil director Joachim Rønning at the helm, no time is wasted bringing viewers up to speed on the backstory. After we’re introduced to Leto’s Ares, it’s clear he isn’t what his creators think he is — just like every other recent AI story. When we meet Eve, it isn’t clear who she even works for initially, but once her discovery is made (and viewers understand she’s the actual protagonist) our story launches full-speed into a feast for the senses. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s beautiful, demanding the best venue for your viewing enjoyment. Sure, it coasts on a lot of nostalgia — recognizers, tanks, cycles, all of it — but it also ignores a lot of the prior silliness, settling for uncomfortable yet incidentally humorous dialogue in the few moments the film lets audiences catch their breath. If you aren’t or have never been a fan of the Tron franchise, this isn’t going to change your mind; for everyone else, it feels like someone was paying attention and listened to what we all really wanted to see.

Leto’s role isn’t as prevalent as the film title or marketing suggests (hooray!) giving the POV to other characters. Greta Lee’s Eve is interesting in her motivations and ambitions, but the meatiest bits are Evan Peters’ manic episodes (as Julian gains and loses control of everything) and Jodie Turner-Smith’s Athena stepping up as her world falls apart. There’s a prologue running well into the credits that suggests a lot about the new world in its denouement, also tying in plenty of previous dangling plot threads for the real Tron nerds out there. Disney’s desire to see their franchise continue isn’t a mystery, but it’s appreciated their seeding it for sequels without sacrificing a satisfying conclusion. If I haven’t made it clear by now, this is pure spectacle, flavored with just enough story and plot to keep it from spilling over into the next comic book panel.

What’s not in the movie is the future world being suggested. Would anyone eat replicated food knowing two lines of code keep it from turning into carbon bits in your stomach? Do replicated plants grow? Does replicated meat need refrigeration? Can anyone 3D print their own Olivia Wilde or Jared Leto to do with as they like? Do replicants have any rights? Will we need to replicate Rick Deckard to take down rogue replicants? I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.

Tron: Ares is rated PG-13 for violence/action and replicating a White Russian, dude.

Four skull recommendation out of four