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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction movie, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap 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 film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a sort 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 algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine 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's performance portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the hero of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible 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 subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a cop car in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.