Tron: Ares Review – Despite Gillian Anderson Can't Rescue This Incredibly Boringly Complex Science Fiction Film
The matrix of pointlessness is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an actual film. It's a third installment to the classic Tron film from the early 80s, a movie that was mould-breaking and courageously innovative for its day in a way that escapes this one and its forerunner Tron: Legacy from the previous decade. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters' character gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mother, in an old-fashioned bit of analogue reality. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to every producer engaged in this movie, and it's unfortunate to see the respected Greta Lee's role and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so lifeless.
Plot Overview of The New Tron Film
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 Inc, originally set up in the 1980s gaming period by genius trailblazer Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. This corporation (initially founded by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, played by David Warner) is headed by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson's character Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who has a ambitious scheme to develop and produce lucrative items such as indestructible soldiers and tanks in the virtual reality grid and then export them into actual reality using a kind of 3D printer.
The issue is that however fearsome, these creations disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities for ever, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech flashdrive. So the ghastly Julian sets his attack dog on her: Ares, the humanoid uber-warrior which can leave the VR world for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the time-honoured way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he's told. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena's role and unfortunate Bridges has a leaden legacy cameo in sage-like white garments, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton's setting.
Acting and Roles Analysis
And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is played by Jared Leto with hipsterish long hair, beard and faintly all-knowing smile, details that were perhaps created by typing the words “incredibly irritating” into an AI human creation programme. Nobody who remembers the 1990s television classic My So-Called Life series will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was incidentally quite amused by his expansive (and critically misunderstood) humorous performance in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci. But Jared Leto is unremittingly, persistently awful here, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is supposed to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and delegate all the villainous actions to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be charming when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode are better than Mozart's compositions.
Franchise Elements and Overall Impact
Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorcycles from the VR netherworld which whizz about the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed dance clubs); one even emits a death ray which cuts a police vehicle in half. But there is zero tension or jeopardy or emotional engagement throughout. This series currently appears about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.
