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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that escapes this film and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Analysis

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were perhaps designed by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.