🔗 Share this article

The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost awakens just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is led by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then export them into the real world using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even emits a death ray which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.