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The matrix of futility is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog 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 androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, persistently terrible here, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or even dance clubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.