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The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this film and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might want to administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played 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 invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of 3D printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these creations disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (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 dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or even dance clubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.