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The framework of futility is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this film and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a piece of tough love you might want to administering to every producer engaged in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish 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, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then export them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive 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 warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair 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 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, persistently terrible here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which speed around the environment in linear paths, adhering to the angular layout of classic video games (or even dance clubs); one even emits a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or danger or human interest throughout. This series currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.