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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.