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The framework 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 the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a piece of tough love 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 uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even keeps it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the superhuman fighter which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of disobeying what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the hero of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the place in linear paths, conforming to the angular layout of classic video games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a lethal beam which slices a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.