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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor 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 (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 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 plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps designed by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one 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 also quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-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); one even emits a death ray 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 automobile CD system.