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The framework of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom 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 develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then export them into the real world using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the ghastly 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's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and unfortunate Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.