Review of Tron: Ares – Despite Gillian Anderson's Efforts Can't Rescue This Mind-Bendingly Dull Science Fiction Film

The framework of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a threequel to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a film that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that escapes this film and its predecessor Tron: Legacy from 2010. Tron: Ares nearly comes to life just once – when Evan Peters' character gets a slap in the face from Gillian Anderson portraying his mother, in an traditional bit of real-world action. That's 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 uninspired.

Plot Overview of The New Tron Film

The situation currently is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson's character Julian (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 kind of three-dimensional printer.

The problem is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's current CEO Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even keeps 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 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 not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

Moreover, Ares – the hero of the title – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly created by typing 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 completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly awful here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares the character says how he loves 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an in-car CD player.