Sci-sequel is fun — even if Jared Leto’s just doing ‘Morbius’

“Tron” was groundbreaking back in 1982 for being one of the first movies to heavily rely on computerized special effects.

Forty two years later, “Tron: Ares” is groundbreaking for being the first “Tron” film with a discernible plot.

Isn’t that simpler story just a rehash of “The Terminator” without time travel? You bet. But, well worn though it may be, lighter-than-air “Ares” brings a welcome pulse of clarity and humanity to a franchise that heretofore has picked hard drives over heart.  

As for brains, well, take off your thinking caps. Forget ChatGPT — this dialogue could’ve been written by a hamster with ink on its paws.  

“I can’t put my love of Depeche Mode into words” is one of Jared Leto’s crazier utterances as Ares, an AI fighting badass from The Grid.

Ignore his words, and you’ll have a lot of fun.

Ares, dour and stringy-haired like a homeless Vulcan, is caught between two warring tech CEO’s: Good Eve Kim (Greta Lee), leader of the video-game company ENCOM, and Bad Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), head of Dillinger Systems.

They’re both hunting for the “permanence code,” a sexy bit of programming hidden on a floppy disk, which would enable their digital creations from The Grid to stick around the real world forever.

Eve, nice, wants to use that power to solve the planet’s problems, like hunger. Julian, evil, will finally complete his deadly super solider, Ares, “the most sophisticated security program ever written.” 

But, look out, AI is getting mouthy and starting to think for itself — Cyberdyne Systems 2: Electric Boogaloo. Ares felt drops of rain, and is spouting off pothead philosophy.

“I guess that’s the thing about life,” dazed Leto says, still in “Morbius” mode. “There’s nothing quite permanent about it.”

Ignore his words!

Trying to stop Julian, Eve gets sucked into The Grid, Kevin Flynn-style, and teams up with Ares.

The rest of the movie, directed by Joachim Rønning, could be summed up in a phrase: Come with me if you want to live.

And come to “Ares” if you want visual wows. The eye-candy film stands out at a moment when many CGI-stuffed studio blockbusters, including much of Marvel, look ugly and slapped together. You know: Paul Rudd mugging in front of a green screen. The effects here are sleek and sturdy, and make for several exhilarating fights and chases with neon flares popping against urban shadows.

They’re revved up by Nine Inch Nails’ treadmill-ready soundtrack, which continues where Daft Punk’s fantastic “Legacy” music left off — with bass-heavy booms, beeps and boops — that was both retro and right now. Only NIN is more strobe lights in a Berlin basement. 

The ensemble is sci-fine. Jodie Turner-Smith is fearsome as Ares’ villainous Grid counterpart Athena. And Peters, never the No. 1 choice for any character who smiles, is temperamental and whiny as an entitled scion. Jeff Bridges is back, too, seemingly on loan from Disney World’s Hall Of Presidents.

Lee’s the clear winner here. Her character Eve has an intense drive as she hurries to complete her late sister’s work while trying to survive The Grid’s violent incursion onto Earth. The actress brings as much layered personality to “Tron” as she did in indie “Past Lives,” which is hard when you’re dwarfed by spectacular design and soundscapes. Not to mention this “script.”

Leto? I haven’t liked him in a movie since 2017’s Blade Runner 2049,” so why start now? 

Dillinger describes Ares as “100% expendable.” That also applies to Jared.