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The matrix of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee 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 Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a kind 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 (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, 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 disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were possibly designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed 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 emotional engagement anywhere. This franchise now looks as relevant as an in-car CD player.