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The matrix of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi 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 groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might want to administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable 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 obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered 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 ghastly 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 traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point 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 making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Overall Impact

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, 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 no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.