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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares 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. That's a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character 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 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 Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly awful here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.