![]() If they laughed – and one can only presume that they must have – why didn’t anyone realize that the audience would laugh as well? I couldn’t help but wonder if the actors were able to keep a straight face when Postlethwaite walked on set wearing the costume for the first time. Late in the film, Aeon meets the guardian of the clones, the Keeper (Postlethwaite), whose outfit resembles nothing so much as a giant burrito with a human head in it. Sometimes, in its relentless effort to achieve Matrix-style cool, Aeon Flux just comes off seeming silly. There are dozens of similar moments throughout. Since we have not, to this point, been clued in that she has healing powers, the moment seems arbitrary. In one scene, Aeon pulls something off her skin and places it over a man’s bullet wound, thereby healing it. She lives somewhere inside Aeon’s brain, but how did she get there? Where does her authority come from? Does she get into other people’s brains as well? How does that work? Other things are similarly unexplained. For instance, McDormand’s character is never explained. You’re just expected to take things at face value. ![]() Part of the problem is that Aeon Flux doesn’t take the time to establish the world in which it is set. There’s no build-up, no suspense, no payoff. While the story is admittedly intriguing, it doesn’t unfold so much as just drop itself down right in front of you. Voiceover narration explains Aeon’s role as a dissident, but beyond that she is completely colorless. There’s no character development everyone is a complete mystery. Despite an abundance of super-cool visuals, the film feels like it hasn’t been filled in. Aeon Flux is all surface and no substance. There’s an interesting concept in the movie, but it can never figure out what to do with that idea. Once human reproduction resumes as normal, Trevor can stop recycling everyone. Trevor has been recycling them for generations while he attempts to find a cure for the infertility that was an unfortunate side effect of the virus inoculation. It turns out that everyone in the city is a clone. I probably shouldn’t give anything away, but the only good thing about Aeon Flux is the premise, so if you don’t want to know what happens, skip to the next paragraph now. This leads to the unraveling of a mystery involving a large population of clones. Before pulling the trigger, she discovers that Trevor isn’t the real villain his brother Oren (Jonny Lee Miller) is. Considering that she believes Trevor ordered the murder of her sister, Aeon has no problem wasting the guy. A being known as “the Handler” (McDormand) lives inside her brain and delivers orders to execute Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas), the ruler of the dynasty and creator of the virus cure. Theron plays the title character, a so-called Monican who opposes the ruling Goodchild dynasty. Many people are suffering strange flashbacks, as though experiencing some vague but powerful memory. Things are not as idyllic as they would seem. The survivors, who were saved via a hastily developed inoculation, live in a specially designed city called Bregna. A virus has killed off 99% of civilization. Aeon Flux shows glimmers of ambition, but the execution is so fundamentally misguided that any discernible ambition can’t be rescued. Nevertheless, the studio was clearly embarrassed by the end product. ![]() I’ve never understood this strategy, especially since even worse films ( Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Doom) were screened in advance. How bad is it? Bad enough that Paramount Pictures hid it from critics. Director Karyn Kusama is the acclaimed independent director of Girlfight her presence behind the camera promised a smart, original take on the material.ĭespite all this promise, Aeon Flux is a complete mess. Stars Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand are Oscar winners, and co-stars Pete Postlethwaite and Sophie Okonedo ( Hotel Rwanda) were Oscar nominees. Bringing the property to the big screen in live action form was a no-brainer, especially considering the level of talent involved. It had a sleek visual style and a lot of cool action. Peter Chung’s “Aeon Flux” was a sci-fi/anime series that ran on MTV. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
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