Film Review: Aeon Flux (2005) D

Date Viewed: 6/7/06
Venue: DVD

Aeon Flux tries so hard to be cool. Based on the animated series that was shown as a series of stylish vignettes on MTV’s Liquid Television in the early 1990s, Aeon Flux is one of those ‘lets put a hot actress in a tight outfit and have her kickass’ movies. The problem isn’t Charlize Theron’s hotness, the problem is there’s no ass-kicking or coolness of any sort.

Set in a semi-utopian future world, title character Aeon Flux (Theron) fights for a shadowy rebel organization whose goal is the upheaval of their society’s totalitarian government. However, Aeon uncovers a secret that could unravel their entire existence.

There’s a lot over-stylized unbelievable martial arts fighting thrown in with even more silly and underwhelming gunplay. Theron doesn’t quite look comfortable in the fights, and since there’s a PG-13 rating to maintain, there’s nothing too graphic (or well-shot, for that matter). And apparently, guns are weaker in the future, because if you get shot, you’ll feel the effects (basically you grimacing) for exactly two shots. After that, you’ll be unaffected for the rest of the film .

Production design is decent, but the camera moves around too much to ever get much of a feel from it. Every set-piece or art department creation intended to have a cool factor just come off lame and mildly retarded.

The characters are consistently underwritten (um, why is Frances McDormind is this movie?). The script is instead saddled with difficult exposition and too many lame action sequences that do very little if anything to advance story.

There’s not much more to say. This is a lame movie with a lame story and lame action. For trying so desperately hard to be cool, Aeon Flux discovers that you can’t try and be cool, you just are, or you aren’t.