🔗 Share this article

The framework of pointlessness is revisited in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this film and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap 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 movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a sort of 3D printer.

The issue is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (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 flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the superhuman fighter 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 portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Analysis

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly created by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. 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 Jared Leto, and I was incidentally very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” 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 charming when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode band are better than Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even emits a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest anywhere. This series currently appears as relevant as an automobile CD system.