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The framework of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to every producer involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind 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 plot-driving “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger 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 starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were perhaps created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, persistently terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart.

Series Features 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 long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This series currently appears as relevant as an in-car CD player.