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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. That's a piece of tough love you might want to administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create 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 however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude 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 Leto is unremittingly, persistently 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 “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a cop car in half. But there is no drama or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This series currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.