🔗 Share this article

The matrix of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares almost comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love you might feel like handing out to every producer involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Story Summary 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, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (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 ambitious scheme to design and create lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger 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 time-honoured way of robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly designed by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, unrelentingly awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart's compositions.

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 long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or indeed dance clubs); a single bike even shoots out a lethal beam which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.