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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly awakens 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. That's a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” 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 superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering 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

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.