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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mum, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to all the producers involved in this film, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

And Ares himself – the protagonist 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 inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance 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 “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which whizz about the place in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in two. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.