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The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to every producer involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led 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 tanks in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a kind of 3D printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger 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's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena 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

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed 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 adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-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 classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which cuts a cop car in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This series currently appears as relevant as an in-car CD player.