'Aeon Flux is the worst movie ever made.' So said pretty much every critic back in 2005 when it was first released. Therefore it bombed and was pretty much forgotten about. Yes, it's hardly going to be mentioned in the same breath as 'The Godfather' and 'Empire Strikes Back,' but it's definitely not as bad as many made out and you can get some enjoyment out of it... if you're in the right mindset.
It was based on some sort of MTV show (I didn't watch it) about a futuristic society that has survived the apocalypse and is now living under a - borderline fascist - regime in the last city on Earth. However, those nasties in charge are constantly being harassed by a band of resistance fighters, including Charlize Theron's 'Aeon Flux' - who is a lycra-clad assassin who may just win the war for the good guys.
There's the typical futuristic city setting, which isn't bad - even the computer-generated moments are just about passible. Then you have the action and the shootouts etc that are associated with the genre. So what went wrong? Rumour has it the film was supposed to be much longer and was majorly trimmed down in the edit suite to a more fast-paced hour and thirty-one minutes. Sadly, this appeared to take with it many of the slower moments which helped explain what was going on and the film's biggest criticism is that it's a bit of a mess for losing this extra footage.
Believe it or not, 'Aeon Flux' isn't just about getting Charlize Theron in lycra. The movie does deal with a few interesting and weighty concepts. However, they could probably have been fleshed-out far more than the enforced run-time has allowed.
If you're expecting Theron to turn in a performance that rivals her Oscar-winning turn in 'Monster' then you're way off. Here, she just plays the typical tough girl who just so happens to be stunningly attractive. She's functional in what she does as gives the best she can under the circumstances. The rest of the cast can also be best described as 'functional.' However, despite its flaws, I still can't bring myself to hate it. Yes, it's no masterpiece, but if you're in the mood to simply sit down and watch Charlize gun her way through plenty of henchmen in a futuristic setting and you don't want to think too deeply about the hows and whys of it all, then look no further. Just don't ask me what's the deal with the 'merged' A and E of the title. Is that even a letter?
It was based on some sort of MTV show (I didn't watch it) about a futuristic society that has survived the apocalypse and is now living under a - borderline fascist - regime in the last city on Earth. However, those nasties in charge are constantly being harassed by a band of resistance fighters, including Charlize Theron's 'Aeon Flux' - who is a lycra-clad assassin who may just win the war for the good guys.
There's the typical futuristic city setting, which isn't bad - even the computer-generated moments are just about passible. Then you have the action and the shootouts etc that are associated with the genre. So what went wrong? Rumour has it the film was supposed to be much longer and was majorly trimmed down in the edit suite to a more fast-paced hour and thirty-one minutes. Sadly, this appeared to take with it many of the slower moments which helped explain what was going on and the film's biggest criticism is that it's a bit of a mess for losing this extra footage.
Believe it or not, 'Aeon Flux' isn't just about getting Charlize Theron in lycra. The movie does deal with a few interesting and weighty concepts. However, they could probably have been fleshed-out far more than the enforced run-time has allowed.
If you're expecting Theron to turn in a performance that rivals her Oscar-winning turn in 'Monster' then you're way off. Here, she just plays the typical tough girl who just so happens to be stunningly attractive. She's functional in what she does as gives the best she can under the circumstances. The rest of the cast can also be best described as 'functional.' However, despite its flaws, I still can't bring myself to hate it. Yes, it's no masterpiece, but if you're in the mood to simply sit down and watch Charlize gun her way through plenty of henchmen in a futuristic setting and you don't want to think too deeply about the hows and whys of it all, then look no further. Just don't ask me what's the deal with the 'merged' A and E of the title. Is that even a letter?