🔗 Share this article

The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a third installment to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, first established in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality 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's character (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 dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – 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 inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Overall Impact

Consistent with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This series currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.