“Aeon Flux” (2005)
Starring Charlize Theron, Martin
Csokas, Sophie Okonedo, Johnny Lee Miller
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi,
based on characters created by Peter Chung
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence
and sexual content
I remember three things about the MTV cartoon “Aeon Flux:” the title character didn't wear pants, the villain who maybe wasn't totally a villain was named Trevor Goodchild, and it was part of a half-hour show that included “The Head” and, more importantly to a comic geek who actually read some of those Image comics, “The Maxx.”
Except “The Head” and “The Maxx” were part of an anthology show called “MTV Oddities” that aired three years after “Aeon Flux” first appeared on “Liquid Television.” And the only reason I knew the name Trevor Goodchild was a friend of mine named his character that in the Street Fighter Storytelling* Game campaign we had. I didn't watch a lot of MTV. I was more of a VH1 guy.
Despite not knowing much about the show, Charlize Theron in just about anything will pique my curiosity. Something starring Theron for $1.25 at Dollar Tree will probably get me to buy it, unless I had several other DVDs in hand and wanted to pretend I have self-control. The fact that the movie came out 20 years ago means I didn't have to actually pick a movie to write about, just go with the one that's sort of timely.**
Theron plays the title character, who we meet when she catches a fly with her eyelashes, which sounds weird until I think about how hard it is to swat a fly. Then, it's kind of impressive. Also, that image is on the cover to a DVD set of the show released the same year as the movie, so maybe it's from the source material. And while she does wear oddly revealing tops, she always pairs them with pants.
Aeon is part of a group called the Monicans, who are rebelling against the rulers of Bregna, the last city on Earth, after a plague wiped out a sizable chunk of humanity. Their reasons for rebelling aren't really explained, although her voiceover does mention something about people disappearing. I don't think the disappearances are ever explained, though?
Anyway, she's an elite spy/assassin/what have you, who's assigned to take out the ruling council's surveillance system, which involves water dropping into a pool that she disables by putting a mechanical lemon or something into it. After the opening exposition dump, this movie doesn't explain a lot. They even seem to get their surveillance back later, but this sequence is important because Aeon blew off dinner with her sister Una, who is killed, apparently at the order of Grand Poobah Trevor Goodchild (Csokas), because she's suspected of being a Monican, based on a surveilled conversation with Aeon.
That kind of begs the question of why the folks carrying her body out and gloating about how Goodchild deals with Monicans just keep walking after Aeon passes them and stops to look at and recognize her sister's body.
Some time later, Aeon's handler (played by Frances McDormand, who I will not judge for cashing a paycheck) tells her they've got everything set up for her to assassinate Goodchild. She's aided in her mission by Sithandra (Okonedo), a fellow Monican who had her feet surgically replaced with hands. She also bears the brunt of the damage dealt by some sort of... deadly garden? … the pair has to cross to get to Goodchild, although it does give us this scene that I think I vaguely remember from a trailer, where Aeon almost gets skewered on some literal blades of grass.
When she finally gets in place to take out Goodchild, who's been butting heads with his brother Oren (Miller) over government policies and societal direction, things don't go as planned.
I'll forego the rest of the synopsis here and make this a more traditional review. It's not that the story is so mind-blowing that I can't bear to spoil it for you, but trying to make sense of what's going on is the major motivation to keep watching this movie once you've started it. I can't see myself rewatching it.
The dialogue is wooden, some of which is intentional but, I don't know, I wasn't really feeling what the characters were saying and doing.
I may dig into the IMDb trivia page on this because I feel like the movie we got isn't what the writers and director intended. Now, maybe that's a good thing, because I do see how this could have gone unnecessarily R-rated from a sex and violence perspective. It might have gotten more eyes on it, but would not have improved the quality.
What would have is an easier-to-understand story. Not simpler, but one where I wasn't left with so many questions. I'm not talking about philosophical questions, using science fiction and the fantastic to make you ponder the realities of society and existence. I mean, more like “Wait, if (this), then why (that)?”
The secrets underlying the plot and the concepts it deals with aren't bad. But the revelations seem more designed to surprise than to make sense. When everything is revealed, there's not a moment where things click together. It's more like, “Well, we needed an explanation and here's what we came up with.” I've seen movies that explain less but make more sense.***
The technology she uses isn't explained very well either, in dialogue or demonstration. It's mostly a bunch of weird-looking stuff that does whatever it needs to do.
And I couldn't rely on the action or visuals to carry the day. The cuts are awkward and seem more designed to not make you consider whether the stunt double looks enough like the actress or actor. Aeon may have some sort of superhuman ability or might just be really good and fighting and jumping and stuff. But the visuals imply that more than show it.
* - Aka roleplaying, but they had to be different.
** - Per IMDb, the movie was released on Dec. 2, 2005.
*** - “Weapons,” for example.
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