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The framework of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to all the producers engaged in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish 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's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, 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 villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or even dance clubs); a single bike even emits a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.