Overview

• Following the Oct. 6 world premiere in Los Angeles, critics praise the film’s visual design, practical Lightcycle set pieces, and an enveloping Nine Inch Nails score, with several recommending IMAX and 3D presentations.
• Many reviews fault the screenplay’s thin character work and uneven humor, with some calling Jared Leto’s Ares underwhelming while highlighting Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith as standouts.
• The new entry shifts much of the spectacle into real-world cityscapes, a choice some reviewers say trades the franchise’s mystery for scale.
• The premise brings a sentient program into the physical world under a 29‑minute limit, with the quest for a ‘Permanence Code’ framing the film’s chase-and-combat set pieces.
• Writer Jesse Wigutow and creator Steven Lisberger frame the film as a long‑gestating modernization shaped by contemporary AI debates, as Disney prepares for the Oct. 10 theatrical opening.