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The framework of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film 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 once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then export them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue 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 MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, 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 not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the place in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.