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The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this film and its predecessor Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to every producer engaged in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, 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 grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always 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 film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even 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 throughout. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.