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The framework of futility is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the classic Tron film from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might want to administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme 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 kind of 3D printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog 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 time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline 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 slightly more engaging. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which slices a cop car in two. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.