Monday, December 12, 2005

Aeon Flux

I was looking forward to this one, and I must say that I was mildly disappointed. Charlize Theron (most recently of North Country) stars in the title role, which is based on the early 1990's MTV cartoon of the same name. I watched the cartoon a few times back in the day and it was hella weird.

Theron is not bad as Aeon, my complaint is just that the movie was inexplicably strange and unfulfilling. There is something about it I didn't like, I just can't quite put my finger on it or articulate it. I know this nebulous description is useless in determining whether or not you should check this movie out, but bear with me. The movie is set in the future (of course), where the government is controlled by Trevor Goodchild, a man who is trying to preserve life in the last known society on Earth. You see, a plague has eliminated nearly all of the world's population. The survivors reside in Bregna, a fortified city surrounded by a wall. Aeon is a member of a small rebel faction seeking to overthrow the administration. Goodchild seems to be up to something nefarious, and Aeon is dispatched to assassinate him. When she gets the opportunity to do the deed, she spares him. It seems they have a past connection. The rest of the movie explores the aforementioned connection and the underlying secrets of the Goodchild adminstration.

This movie is not as cool as it looks. There are a few good scenes, but you've seen most of them in the trailer. Aeon is cool, but she does not kick enough ass. The special effects and fight choreography also look cheesy. It's too acrobatic. I've seen more realistic fight scenes from The Bride in Kill Bill, and if you want to go for the implausible but sick, Trinity in The Matrix was better. Sooooo.....if I were you I'd wait until this little number is on DVD.

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