Æon Flux

This film is vastly underrated to me. The highlight is the visual design and imagination that it borrows from its source material. For sure, the story has been turned into a more conventional Hollywood plot, but it makes up for that with smooth action scenes, acrobatic stunts and imaginative gadgets.

When I originally heard of Aeon Flux, it sounded absolutely terrible. The posters looked even worse. However, after seeing a trailer somewhere, I loved the look and bright colours (being easily pleased) and decided to give the movie a chance.

Aeon Flux is the story of a female, barely clothed rebel sent in to assassinate the ruler of a dystopian isolated city, which contains the entire remainder of mankind. Let's just say the plot is entirely unoriginal, a derivative of many other Sci-Fi movies and stories.

Charlieze Theron gets to prance around with an insect-like walk (her first appearance strongly reminded me of a praying mantis), salamander-like crawls, and other, animal-inspired, ballet-like movements. The world of Aeon Flux is drawn in bright, almost psychedelic colours, and it feels as if we glimpse only the tiniest part of this strange place. A lake of tears acts as CCTV for the entire city, pills exchanged in French kisses are used for telepathy, little pellets of liquid metal have a will of their own... A good chunk of the film is dazzling to watch, without any explanation behind it. Strictly speaking, Aeon Flux is about 80% futuristic fantasy, with very little science fiction in it. In fact, it sometimes feels as if the strangely organic gadgets of the rebels do not fit in this world - as the authorities seem to have more conventional technology and weapons.

What Aeon Flux succeeds at the most is dazzling the audience. Visually, stylistically, and with its energy and futuristic fantasy (and constantly underdressed heroine). In that, it reminds me strongly of Fifth Element - another film where we feel as if we only get a glimpse of a futuristic, colourful world full of strangely dressed people, without the need to explain or expose every aspect of it. However, Aeon Flux is less satisfying than Luc Besson's classic - because it lacks a sense of humour and takes itself too seriously (which, given the plot, is a bad move).

All in all, I would recommend the film to people who enjoy Fifth Element, bright colours, a sense of visual alienation, and unoriginal science fiction dressed up in a bright, original and almost unique coating.

Aeon Flux takes place in the last city on Earth, Bregna, 400 years after a deadly virus wipes out 99% of the population. Dr. Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) eventually found a cure and treated those that were left. Along with his brother, Oren (Jonny Lee Miller), the Goodchilds ruled over Bregna the entire 400 years in what had become a dictatorship.

A rebel group named the Monicans soon rose up and challenged the Goodchilds authority. Their goal is to assassinate the Goodchild family and win back their freedom. Their top assassin, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron), is assigned to assassinate Trevor Goodchild and after making her way through a booby trapped field, makes her way to Goodchild. She gets him in her sights and has every intention of going through with it until Trevor notices her and gives her a look like he knows her.

I can not go much further without spoiling the story for some but needless to say, I think this movie has some nice surprises and twists and ties together nicely in the end.

The movie begins in a very weird manner, similar to The Fifth Element in regards to the special effects and overall feel of the movie. I also have to say that I love the fact that Aeon had to wear tight spandex throughout the entire movie. They could not have chosen a sexier woman than Charlize Theron to play this part and she does not disappoint, not even in the action scenes.

Some of the action scenes show a large amount of creativity while others seem to have been somewhat influenced by The Matrix trilogy. There is nothing wrong with that and Flux ends up with a style that is pretty much it's own.

Overall, I thought this was going to be a confusing and possibly boring movie. However, once sitting through it and giving it a chance, the story turned out to be just as good as the action. I never watched the cartoon series so I am walking into this movie cold and furthermore, I can not tell you whether the movie retains the same story but I can state that I did enjoy this movie. If you liked Elektra (and I know many of you did), then you should enjoy Aeon Flux as well. 7.5/10

'Aeon Flux' is visually and stylistically dazzling. The CGI and set designs look great and the the futuristic world that is presented is impressive. I haven't watched the original but having read other comments I would like to watch that. However, regarding this movie, it is the screenplay that is a big letdown. It is very obviously predictable and contrived. It lacks depth. It's more like just another forgettable Hollywood entertainer. Some scenes seem to be there only to show the special effects (which are great) and stunts as they don't seem to have any relevance for the main plot.

In my opinion, the love story is the weakest link. It's very unconvincing and the 'romantic' lead lack chemistry. Furthermore, apart from Theron, McDormand, Okonedo and Postlethwaite, the acting is terrible. Theron looks the part and acts well. She is beautiful but deadly. She does a lot of crawling around and arse kicking but manages to stay in character and looks absolutely sizzling. Okonedo doesn't have a great role to speak of but she does well. McDormand and Postlethwaite are effective in their small roles. Miller is very bad and Csokas is wooden.

Having said that, I'd say it's not a horrendous film. Just something to watch if you don't have anything better. I really enjoyed the visuals and the style and of course just looking at the beautiful Theron. Other than that, the plot might appeal to the average movie watcher if they want something with no depth, but just an action, sci-fi, romantic flick.

Aeon Flux gets a bum rap from the critics due primarily to the politics of the studio / critic relationship; the studio's decision not to preview the film got the critic's undies in a bunch. But Aeon Flux turns out to be a solid B+ grade SciFi flick that is inventive, stylistic, coherent and just plain fun to watch, particularly if you are partial to an athletic incarnation of Charlize Theron in Spandex. The film is well-paced. The main characters have depth and there is "real emotion" evident in the acting, always a plus for a SciFi film. There are a few things to complain about to be sure, but they're not crucial to the plot. I enjoyed the "existential dilemma" and "identity crisis" elements that made the story interesting. I'll look forward to watching this one again in a year or two.