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The framework of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this film and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to every producer involved in this film, and it's sad to see the respected 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 evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival 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 (initially founded by Encom's 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 ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian 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 androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed 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 adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or even dance clubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This series currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.