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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal 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, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (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 problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog on her: Ares, 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 beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo 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 title – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared 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 “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.