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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to every producer involved in this film, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful 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 time-honoured way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in two. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.