🔗 Share this article

The framework of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction film, closer to 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 boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Story Summary 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 VR company Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then export them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations disintegrate after 29 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 keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the dreadful Julian 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 traditional way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo 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 title – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.