Review of Tron: Ares – Even Gillian Anderson Can't Rescue This Boringly Complex Sci-Fi Film

The matrix of futility is reloaded in this mind-bendingly dull sci-fi movie, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. It's a threequel to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its day in a way that eludes this one and its forerunner Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mum, in an old-fashioned bit of real-world action. That's a bit of firm parenting you might feel like administering to all the producers engaged in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an evil AI corporation with the unsubtly gangster-ish name of Dillinger has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn's character, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is headed by the founder’s annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce profitable things such as invincible troops and armored vehicles in the VR world and then transfer them into actual reality using a kind of three-dimensional printer.

The issue is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has uncovered the plot-driving “permanence algorithm” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian deploys his enforcer on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for twenty-nine 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's performance plays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and poor Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in sage-like white garments, like a Poundshop Jor-El on Krypton's setting.

Acting and Roles Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps designed by typing the words “extremely annoying” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Jared Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is consistently, persistently terrible here, although he isn't helped by a limp plot point which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the villainous actions to Athena, thus rendering her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he loves 1980s electronic music and that Depeche Mode are superior to Mozart.

Series Features and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); a single bike even shoots out a death ray which cuts a cop car in half. But there is no drama or danger or human interest anywhere. This franchise currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.