🔗 Share this article

The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded 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 movie that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost comes to life just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character 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 engaged in this film, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a rival to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then export them into the real world 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 current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic USB drive. So the dreadful Julian sets his attack dog 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 plays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Analysis

Moreover, Ares – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were possibly created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers 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 very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena, 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 superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the place in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of classic video games (or even dance clubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.