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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might want to administering to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of 3D printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can exit the virtual realm 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's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, 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 hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even dance clubs); a single bike even shoots out a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.