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The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to all the producers engaged in this film, 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 scenario 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 Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger 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 androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo 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 played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.