Action Movie Fanatix Review: Aeon Flux

The Future Is Flux

Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand

Director: Karyn Kusama

2005  |  92 Minutes  |  PG-13

“I had a family once, I had a life. Now all I have is a mission.” – Aeon Flux

If memory serves me correctly, Aeon Flux came out right around the time that Ultraviolet came out.  Both movies seemed to be rather similar although I had previously never seen either one.  Both have attractive female leads – two of my personal favorite leading ladies, Charlize Theron and Milla Jovovich respectively.  Both are set in the future.  And both have a bright and distinct visual style.  Eventually I would like to check both of them out but for now I only have Aeon Flux at my fingertips, so…

In the year 2415, Aeon Flux is an assassin for the Monicans, a rebel group opposing the Goodchild regime in the last city on Earth, Bregna.  When she is assigned to kill Trevor Goodchild, Aeon is hit with a memory of a past relationship between she and Trevor Goodchild and she begins to unravel the truth behind the cities mysterious disappearances.

I had watched the MTV cartoon back… whenever that was on.  Not religiously or anything.  I didn’t have the Aeon Flux Halloween costume or anything.  The cartoon was kinda weird.  Kinda out there.  But it had its own style and that originality is what made it so interesting.  The true uniqueness of the cartoon is lost in the translation to film.  The wardrobe is still out there and the acrobatics are still way over the top but it feels like the movie is trying to be unique instead of naturally being so.  It has the Hollywood polish.

That’s not to say that there isn’t something worth watching here.  If it weren’t for the cartoon, Aeon Flux the movie would actually seem relatively creative, at least visually.  Everything is contained inside a relatively small city but the architecture is really pretty amazing.

The most obvious “thing” worth watching in Aeon Flux is Aeon Flux herself, Charlize Theron.  Ms. Theron is always beautiful – even in the goofy clothes that she is wearing in Aeon Flux.

The only other character worth mentioning is Sithandra.  She had some sort of futuristic, ultra functional plastic surgery and had hands surgeried onto where her feet once were.  The results are some kick ass acrobatics using either her hands or her feet hands to grip.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  All action movies need at least one memorable action scene.  Aeon Flux accomplishes this early with the “raid” scene with Aeon Flux and Sithandra charging through the garden.  Unfortunately, after this the action goes downhill a bit.  It isn’t bad by any means but the originality is essentially gone for the rest of the movie.

Even though Aeon Flux doesn’t quite match what was truly special about the old cartoon it is still pretty awesome to watch.  The story is intriguing, the action is quick and intense and the sets are amazing.  I’d give it a go whether you were a fan of the cartoon series or not.