Tron: Ares has sparked a sharp divide between critics and audiences, according to the latest Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Following its theatrical debut on October 10, 2025, Tron: Ares currently holds a 55% Tomatometer, while the audience score sits at a much stronger 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The division between the critics’ and the audience’s response to the film has fueled debate online, with many praising the film’s spectacle while others criticize its lack of emotional depth.

Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus reads:

“A sensory feast of vivid neon hues and a hypnotic soundtrack, Tron: Ares is gorgeous to behold but too narratively programmatic to achieve an authentically human dimension.”

Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares is the third installment in the franchise and a sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Jared Leto stars as Ares, a sentient program sent from the Grid into reality, in the first contact between AI and humanity. The cast also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, and Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn.

Premiering in Los Angeles on October 6, Tron: Ares arrives after years of development delays and high expectations. Initial trailers for Tron: Ares generated significant buzz for the film’s stylized visuals and the return to the neon-soaked digital universe that made the iconic sci-fi franchise so famous, and, for many longtime fans, the new movie delivers on that promise.

© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

Audiences found that Tron: Ares offers a continuation that builds on the mythology established in previous Tron installments while introducing new concepts tied to modern AI anxieties. However, while some reviewers appreciated the bold visuals, nostalgic concepts, and sound design, many critics found the storytelling thin and the characters underdeveloped. Yet, this isn’t the first Tron film to cause division.

The Tron franchise has always drawn mixed reactions from critics. 1982’s original film grossed $50 million on a $17 million budget, and was praised for its revolutionary visual effects but criticized for its cold tone and technical jargon. Over time, it gained cult status, now holding a 61% Tomatometer and 69% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, greenlighting Tron: Legacy three decades later.

The 2010 sequel fared slightly better with critics and earned praise for its Daft Punk score and ambitious world-building, though it too faced criticism for weak character arcs and a muddled plot. Tron: Legacy grossed $409.9 million on a $170 million budget, but scored less with critics than the original, with a 51% Tomatometer and 64% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes.

Therefore, both earlier Tron films, like Ares, saw higher audience scores than critic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, reinforcing the series’ pattern of divided reception. In that sense, Tron: Ares is right on brand. Yet, whether it secures long-term success may ultimately depend on box office and streaming performance, but if history is any guide, Tron will always have a strong audience.