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The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to all the producers engaged in this film, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan 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 kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the environment in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.