Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4076 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-22
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 89 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Like the animated series it’s based on, Aeon Flux is the kind of sci-fi that’s best appreciated by the MTV generation. It’s a serious attempt at stylized, futuristic action/adventure (the title character, played by Charlize Theron, is essentially a female James Bond for the cyberpunk era) and taken for what it is, it’s not all that bad. The action takes place in the year 2415, four centuries after a virus nearly decimated the human race, leaving only five million survivors in a utopian city called Bregna. Aeon belongs to the Monicans, a secret rebel resistance force that is struggling to destroy the Goodchild regime led by its namesake, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), the ruler of Bregna and a descendant of the man who found a cure for the deadly virus. As instructed by the Handler (Frances McDormand, gamely playing along in ridiculous sci-fi regalia), Aeon is assigned to assassinate Goodchild, but there are deeper secrets to be discovered, and conspiracies to be foiled. This leads director Karyn Kusama (who fared much better with her debut feature Girlfight) to indulge in all sorts of routine action and fast-paced gunplay, but the elusive pleasures of Aeon Flux are mostly found in the sleek athleticism of Theron and costar Sophie Okonedo (as a fellow Monican), who commit themselves 100% to roles that are dramatically flat yet physically dynamic.

Other highlights include Aeon’s high-tech gadgetry (including an eyeball that doubles as a microsocope) and the amusing sight of Pete Postlethwaite in a costume resembling a construction-site disposal tube, but Flux fans may wonder what happened to the surreal, chromium sheen future that gave the MTV series its visionary appeal. As a live-action feature, Aeon Flux is a miscalculated exercise in cheesy style and dour tone, but it’s entertaining enough to earn a small cadre of admirers. --Jeff Shannon

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 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 centre 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.

Customer Reviews

An interesting and entertaining film.
Aeon Flux is a film that was released last year starring Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron.

A virus kills 99% of the world's population and a scientist called Trevor Goodchild develops a cure. 400 years later, the survivors live in the city of Bregna which lies inside large walls that nobody crosses. Some call Bregna the perfect society, pollution is very low and the people seem to be very healthy and happy. But others notice things that others ignore, people go missing without explanation and people turn their back on it because they have total faith in their government, but others no better. A group of rebels emerge called the Monachans, as they attempt to overthrow the government, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is their best hope of success.

The plot is surprisingly stronger than what I expected. It isn't anything original; everything has all been done before, it ticks all the boxes for what you would expect from a sci-fi movie, but this doesn't make it bad at all. Along the way there are some genuinely surprising twists in the storyline that keep you interested, and the settings are all fantastic so you really do feel linked to the world they are living in. Again the story has its down sides, it is vaguely told and it often tails off on itself making you fill in the blanks.

The characters in Aeon Flux are great. The costumes range from being eccentric to the truly bizarre. Character development is quite weak even Aeon is a little wooden, although Charlize puts up another great performance. I have already mentioned that the setting are very good, they actually remind me a lot of the locations in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The action scenes are where this film shines, Charlize worked incredibly hard to achieve her athletic state in the film. 95% of the stunts are all her and after watching the extras on this DVD I now appreciate the action stunts even more. You have gun fights and the brilliant feminine, all acrobatic fighting style that Aeon Flux portrays, and the whole thing looks spectacular on camera. Backed up by a pretty slick soundtrack the action scenes are great fun.

The extras on the DVD contain so surprises but they are interesting if you enjoyed the film. 5 documentaries go into detail about how the film was put together in terms of location, the world they created and other things. The best of all is the stunts documentary because the wire work is amazing and Charlize is great at doing them!

As a whole Aeon Flux is very entertaining. A half-baked but fairly decent plot helps along the great action sequences. I do recommend this DVD because it's a very fun film and the extras are enjoyable as they add a layer of depth to the film. One more thing the DVD has a cool shiny case ^_^

Visually amazing.
Aeon Flux is pretty well crafted. It's visually amazing with its stylised set design and Berlin locations and any movie that runs under 90 minutes gets my vote regardless. Unfortunately, as visually impressive as it is, Aeon Flux is also utterly cold. The characters are like ice, their motivations well plotted but unbelievable. There's not a single character you care about in the entire film. And all the slick design and action sequences in the world cannot lift it above the 'seen it all before' school of Hollywood filmmaking. A real shame, because some of the themes touched upon regarding mortality (literally 'touched upon' in about 30 seconds) would have made this a more interesting and involving tale.

On the plus side, it is exceptionally well made, abounding with visual ideas and possibly worth seeing if you are a filmmaker looking to pick up a few hints and tips.

An undemanding time waster.

SCI-FI action film worth watching once

This is a clever adaptation of the MTV animated series.

I actually found it more plausible than the original, which is not saying much. In its favour, the action sequences are stunning, the film is visually very beautiful (this refers to both the sets and the lead star, Charlize Theron in the title role). The characters are also much more understandable and less morally ambiguous than the original, and the actors brought them to life quite well.

Against this film, the story is still pretty implausible and sometimes also hard to follow.

The story is set 500 years from now, after humanity was almost entirely wiped out by a virus in the early 21st century. We are told at the beginning that a Dr Goodchild found the cure which saved the human race from annihilation, and that 500 years later "the Goodchild regime" is still in power. After all that time there are still only 5 million people on earth, all in just one city. This may seem very strange but is one of those apparently unlikely things for which the plot does provide a reasonable, or at least internally consistent, explanation.

In the original MTV series there were two or more human nations and the "Monicans" were the inhabitants of a rival city: in this one there is only one city and "Monicans" like Aeon Flux are an underground resistance movement. In the original series, the head of state, Chairman Trevor Goodchild, had recently come to power by removing the elected leader, in the film he has been in office for a very long time - you'll have to watch it to find out just how long.

Aeon Flux is the principal Monican agent: shortly after the start of the film she gets orders to assassinate Chairman Goodchild. In the process of attempting this mission she finds that the regime holds secrets which are even stranger than she thought, and neither friends nor foe are who she thought they were.

Charlize Theron gets to wear some very strange outfits, although they are nothing like as indecent as the ones in the original series. She looks very good indeed in most of them but often the costumes just do not fit the missions she is carrying out.

For example, who in their right mind would send an agent on a secret mission wearing a bondage costume which will draw every male eye in a millisecond and looks like it belongs on a catwalk? And what kind of idiot would carry out a night-time infiltration mission to sabotage an ultra-high security installation wearing an all-white outfit ?

The movie also suffers in plausibility from the classic "Hollywood rules" of weapon accuracy and ammunition supply. Whenever the good guys fire a weapon they almost always hit what they are shooting at, but when either a bad guy or a computer controlled weapon system shoots at one of the heroes or heroines they almost always miss or hit a non-vital spot. And none of the good guys ever runs out of ammunition until a suitable point in the plot to show them changing a cartridge during a piece of dialogue.

Despite all these implausibilities the film can carry you along and I did enjoy watching it once. But it is probably a film to rent rather than buy.