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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were perhaps created 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 Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses 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 meant to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.