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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from 1982, a film that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional 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's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or even nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.