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The framework of futility is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this film and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost 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 real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to every producer involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of 3D printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly designed by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers 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 broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, persistently terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the angular layout of classic video games (or even dance clubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which cuts a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.