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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi film, more a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from 1982, a movie that was groundbreaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron Legacy from the previous decade. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson playing his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. That's a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to every producer involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The situation now is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a rival to the VR company Encom, first established 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 Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the VR world and then transfer them into the real world using a sort of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these creations crumble into dust after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog 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 robots, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, details that were perhaps created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life will always find it in their hearts to be totally rude about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to display glimpses of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the angular layout of antique arcade games (or even nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in two. But there is no drama or jeopardy or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.