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The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor 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 mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. That's a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to every producer engaged 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.

Story Summary of The New Tron Film

The situation currently 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 Inc, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Analysis

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted 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 artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV 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 consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, 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 subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

Consistent with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a lethal beam which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This series now looks as relevant as an automobile CD system.