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The framework of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron 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. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role 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 unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the hero of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.