The picture climaxes with the crashing of a blimp, an image that encapsulates the Hindenburg scale of its failure.
Aeon Flux (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:10
Rotten:88
Average Rating:3.3/10
Consensus: Aeon Flux lacks the gravity-defying pace of its animated predecessor, and, despite some flash, is largely a dull affair.
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: Karyn Kusama, the writer-director of GIRLFIGHT, the story of a tough female boxer, turns her attentions to a tough female superhero in AEON FLUX. Based on a series of animated shorts that aired on... Karyn Kusama, the writer-director of GIRLFIGHT, the story of a tough female boxer, turns her attentions to a tough female superhero in AEON FLUX. Based on a series of animated shorts that aired on MTV, the live-action feature film version stars Charlize Theron, in jet black hair, as the secret agent of the title. Aeon Flux is a Monican who has been ordered to assassinate Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), the leader of Bregna--a futuristic walled city that is the last vestige of humanity on 25th-century earth. But a long-buried memory prevents her from killing him, ultimately making both of them targets. As Trevor battles his brother, Oren (Jonny Lee Miller), for control of Bregna, Aeon seeks revenge for the murder of her sister (Amelia Warner) while also being hunted down by her former partner, Sithandra (Sophie Okonedo). At the center of it all is a secret that threatens to tear everything apart. Theron, who performed most of her own stunts, glides through the film in barely-there outfits, while also jumping, running, slinking, diving, and cartwheeling her way through dangerous situations, recalling the gorgeous movements made by the animated version. The film alternates between stark gray-and-white sets and brilliant splashes of red, green, and yellow, adding a vibrancy that befits a cartoon adaptation. The taut script, by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (who previously teamed up on CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL), delves deep into the relationships of siblings that often border between love and hate. Graeme Revell's smart score never overwhelms the action, which involves a lot of automatic weapons, and Oscar winner Frances McDormand and Oscar nominee Pete Postlethwaite feature in small roles. [More]
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand, Pete Postlethwaite, Amelia Warner, Caroline Chikezie, Nikolai Kinski
Director: Karyn Kusama
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenwriter: Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay
Composer: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Aeon Flux
One would figure, after 400 years of bad action movies, that leaders would learn: If a woman comes at you dressed in a tight jumpsuit, duck.
A hokey, post-apocalyptic jumble of clunky storytelling, tin-ear dialogue, and ineptly staged action sequences.
The futuristic thriller is overly familiar and never especially gripping -- and too somber and cerebral for the young action crowd -- but it looks terrific and is in no way an embarrassment.
There's no way to say it but to come right out with it: Aeon Flux is a good movie. Actually, it's a really good movie.
Ten years ago, Chung's animated Aeon Flux was groundbreaking, inspirational. It still is. Maybe another spin through Chung's Flux DVD set will wipe away all memory of its middling live-action cousin.
This is one of those perfect on the outside-fascist on the inside societies where everything happens in huge, cavernous spaces for no particular reason except that it's a cool setting.
This could have been, maybe, a rich and fascinating invented place to explore and hang out in, but instead it feels like exactly what it is: a bulls**t Hollywood excuse for science fiction.
Aeon Flux isn't about how cool or weird or geeky it can be, but about the potential endgame of a contemporary social debate, and that is its best asset.
Are you really willing to pay full fare just to see Charlize Theron do backflips in skintight S&M outfits?
The fact that a movie containing all of those elements could be as sterile and monotonous as this one is a wonder in itself.
The waste of talent and money thrown into this cheesy, haphazard production should be a criminal offense the world over.
Despite the studio's lack of confidence, it isn't exactly an awful movie -- it's not Honeymooners bad, at least, and Paramount eagerly welcomed critics to that one.
Even worse than Catwoman... If you are compiling a Ten Worst of the Year list, Aeon is a must-see. Otherwise, your time would be better spent doing just about anything else.
Not even the sight of Theron in stylized bondage gear can atone for the muddled story, hackneyed action, and dulled-down effects.
This live-action cartoon tries to walk the line between pleasing the faithful and appealing to a broad-based action audience. It fails on both fronts.
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