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The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is 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 the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an traditional 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 respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the VR company Encom Inc, 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's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which slices a cop car in two. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.