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The matrix of futility is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to every producer involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer 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 traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently 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 badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This series currently appears as relevant as an in-car CD player.