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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap 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 handing out to every producer involved in this film, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario currently 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, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays 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 Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who recalls 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 quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible here, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Overall Impact

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout 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 human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.