🔗 Share this article

The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a cop car in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise now looks as relevant as an in-car CD player.