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The framework of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a third installment 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 film and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected 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 unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world 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 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog 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 deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. No one who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. 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.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or even dance clubs); one even emits a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.