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The framework of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to every producer involved in this film, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, 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 the real world using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles 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, touches that were perhaps created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This series currently appears as relevant as an in-car CD player.