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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to every producer involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.