The matrix of futility is revisited in this tediously complex science fiction film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from 1982, a movie that was mould-breaking and boldly pioneering for its time 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 smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character portraying his mother, 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 sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.
The scenario now is that an evil AI corporation with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the VR company Encom, first established in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's odiously nerdish grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to design and create profitable things such as indestructible soldiers and armored vehicles in the virtual reality grid and then export them into the real world using a sort of 3D printer.
The problem is that however fearsome, these things disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence algorithm” which can keep these things alive permanently, and even keeps it on her person on a extremely basic flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger sets his attack dog on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 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 portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.
And Ares himself – the protagonist of the title – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and faintly all-knowing smile, touches that were possibly created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who recalls the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is unremittingly, unrelentingly terrible in this film, although his performance isn't aided by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to display glimpses of “compassion” for Eve Kim's role and delegate all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus rendering her marginally more interesting. It is meant to be adorable when Ares the character says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.
And in keeping with the brand-identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in long straight lines, conforming to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even shoots out a death ray which slices a cop car in half. But there is zero tension or danger or human interest anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.
Lena Hoffmann is a seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter, specializing in German current affairs and digital media trends.
