Æon Flux

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.

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.

We just got home from seeing Aeon Flux, and for my money, it turned out to be far better than I had expected. Ready for an action movie with lots of leaping, jumping and hero stuff, it was all of that - but more. It actually had a story line! And it was that story line that kept things moving nicely along.

I think that it's relatively short length (97 minutes) also helped it from being bogged down with minutiae and having a plot that had to be mercilessly stretched beyond its limits. The scenes were crisply photographed, the special effects were enough to give the film its character WITHOUT making it a special-effects movie, per se.

Although a little thin in some parts, the dialogue was fair. The only thing I thought might have made it better was the development of some of the peripheral characters.

Charlize Theron is very versatile, and now I fully intend to see the anime of Aeon Flux.

Science fiction movies are an odd thing. They and "detective" movies depend more heavily on literary conventions than other types of films.

But you know, where detective movies have swallowed the form and adapted in rich ways, science fiction hasn't settled gently into film. Its an odd, unintuitive truth, despite the flood of science fiction movies.

Some of these are mere action movies in excusably bent settings to make them seem less ridiculous.

The "real" science fiction movies seem to be of two types, and both of those are concerned first with building an alternative universe. One path is through elaborate alternative cosmologies: Matrix, Star Wars, Ring. If you get this right, if it is sufficiently powerful, all else comes along for the ride.

The other path isn't appreciated as much by the kiddies, but in a way it is more pure. That's when the alternative world is first a visual presentation. If you choose this path young jediniles, its all about the eye. Plots, characters, attitude... all these only have to be acceptable and not get in the way.

With that preface, i have to say I liked this movie, as trashed as it has been.

Sure, the story is stupid. Name more than three science fiction movies that aren't.

The action scenes are ordinary. The acting lame. That hasn't prevented hosannas for other films.

But this one has terrific art direction. No, nothing radical, but what we see in just about every scene is magical. And it all hangs together to imply just exactly the world we inhabit for that hour and a half.

Imagination often shows in these things. But rarely does it show as a coherent vision in all the elements of the thing. "Sin City" even had problems with this. I'll ask you to watch this just for the visual impact. The camera isn't great: some "Van Helsing" eye-adventure would have helped.

I'll rate this worth watching. Yes, with an emphasis on the watching, down to the redheaded "handler" and the rebirthing craft.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.