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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's a bit of firm parenting you might feel like handing out to every producer involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.