Tron: Ares

It took Tron: Ares for this truth to be revealed, but Jared Leto’s most tolerable form is as a malfunctioning computer program.

The latest big-budget, Disney-funded, action extravaganza sequel from director Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales; Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) makes excellent use of the robotic actor’s strengths, pairing dry, culture-clash humor with a pounding Nine Inch Nails score and some of the year’s slickest visual effects.

If only the script by Jesse Wigutow (Daredevil: Born Again) could keep pace. His thin plot involves ENCOM’s benevolent Eve Kim (Greta Lee, Past Lives) and Dillinger Systems’ selfish, shortsighted Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) racing to bring digital creations into the real world — and keep them there. The key to winning is the imaginatively named “permanence code,” which Eve naturally acquires first, prompting Julian to take whatever steps are necessary to acquire it.

Enter Leto’s eponymous, expendable, “perfect soldier” Master Control Program, but rather than acquiesce to homicide, he/it mysteriously develops empathy — and a fondness for Depeche Mode. Such blunt musings prove disarmingly entertaining, particularly in the midst of grand action sequences, and result in the actor’s most engaging performance since his similarly mechanical turn in Blade Runner: 2049.

As Ares’ ally turned enemy Athena, Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang) brings a comparable programmed intensity to seeing their directive through, though her all-powerful capabilities meet illogical obstacles at overly convenient junctures.

However, this binary writing style does little for Lee, Peters, and Gillian Anderson (as Julian’s mother, Elisabeth), who ironically come off more stiff than the programs. Their scenes can't end soon enough and Leto and Turner-Smith only help so much when they're onscreen with these alleged humans.

Thankfully, it’s not truly a Tron movie without Jeff Bridges, and his brief but satisfying appearance as legendary programmer Kevin Flynn almost perfectly toes the nostalgic line while still pushing the latest story forward in compelling and humorous ways.

Now, to queue up some Depeche Mode.

Grade: B-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Walt Disney Pictures)