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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a third installment to the classic Tron film from 1982, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this film and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were perhaps created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or even dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.