🔗 Share this article

The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, 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 involved in this film, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary of Tron: Ares

The situation currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then export them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The issue 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 MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is beginning to show signs of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful here, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in two. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.