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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a third installment to the classic Tron film from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

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, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create 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 things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog 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 starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance 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.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.