🔗 Share this article

The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, 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 courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. That's a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to every producer involved in this film, and it's sad 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 Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom 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 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 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 keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Analysis

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one 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 very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently terrible in this film, although he isn't helped 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 villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart.

Series Features and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.