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The framework of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this film and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” 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 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, persistently terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Overall Impact

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.