Review of Tron: Ares – Even Gillian Anderson Fails to Save This Incredibly Boringly Complex Sci-Fi Film

The matrix of pointlessness is revisited in this tediously complex sci-fi movie, more a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film nearly awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith's character being made to look so uninspired.

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 rival to the VR company Encom Inc, first established in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export 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 (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 dreadful Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, details that were possibly created by inputting the words “extremely annoying” into an AI human creation programme. No one who remembers the 90s TV 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 expansive (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena, thus making her marginally more interesting. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Overall Impact

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which speed around the place in long straight lines, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even shoots out a lethal beam which slices a cop car in two. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest throughout. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.