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The framework of futility is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi 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 movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its time in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film nearly awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to handing out to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

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 competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, 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 is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. No one who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was also quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares says how he adores 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

Consistent with the brand-identity of the franchise, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a lethal beam which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.