🔗 Share this article

The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. That's a piece of tough love you might want to administering to every producer involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers 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 no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were possibly created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); one even emits a lethal beam which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest anywhere. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.