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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly 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 analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might want to administering 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.

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 virtual reality firm Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations crumble into dust 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 permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he is commanded. 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 Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently terrible here, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.