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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters 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 all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to 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 long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a cop car in half. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.