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The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. This is a piece of tough love you might want to handing out to all the producers engaged in this film, and it's sad 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 situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led 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 export them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently terrible 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 subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.