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The framework of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to every producer involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is led by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then export them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities 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 humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the hero of the title – is played 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 AI human creation programme. No one who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn 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 supposed to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.