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The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that eludes this one and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mum, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers involved in this film, and it's unfortunate to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The scenario now is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to design and create profitable things 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 no matter how intimidating, these creations crumble into dust after 29 minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has uncovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the dreadful Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for twenty-nine minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of robots, is beginning to show signs of disobeying what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance portrays Ares's deadpan second-in-command Athena's role and unfortunate Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. No one who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will always 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 consistently, persistently terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a limp plot point which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Eve Kim's role and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is meant to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the franchise, there are motorcycles from the virtual underworld which speed around the environment 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 police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or human interest throughout. This franchise now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.