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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull 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 groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to all the producers 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 Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, 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 algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog 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 starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, 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 are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, 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 even nightclubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which slices a cop car 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.