Always Right Movie Review'dustries

Aeon Flux doesn't exactly sux. I realize that 9 out of 10 critics would disagree with that, but here at Always Right is the only opinion that matters, and that opinion says that Aeon Flux was far from the unmitigated catastrophe some make it out to be, and may be preventing people from giving it a shot.

The plot revolves around this: Aeon Flux is an undercover revolutionary sent on a mission to assassinate Chairman Goodchild, the leader of the city-state that is the last remaining human habitation on the planet after a devastating virus. From here I was able to figure about half of what the story was going to entail.

Now for the pros and cons.

Sure, Aeon Flux has its problems. A lot of problems, in fact. By all accounts the cartoon that appeared on MTV was infinity times better. For most people, the relatively complex (but flawed) plotline probably moves too slowly and intellectually between action scenes but doesn't offer enough of an intelligent payoff. There are a lot of wasted opportunities I saw concerning minor characters that could have made the story more engaging. There are some...okay, a goodly amount...of illogical plot points. There is really not very much engaging about the characters (even though a lack of emotional engagement and voice inflection does kind of work for the movie's atmosphere), and the ever-annoying memory-mysteriously-jumping-into-clone gimmick raises its ever-annoying head and makes me want to beat it with a pipe. It also serves up what has to be the most expensive but ineffective security system I have ever seen in the form of dart-spewing beehives. And the editing is too quick to really show off in full glory the grace of the female form doing acrobatics and killing people. A waste, considering all the months Theron must have trained for this role.

Okay, now the good news: Aeon Flux presents a very accomplished visual style through its cold, futuristic ambience. The action scenes, while over-edited, are not bad. And Charlize Theron shows that she is, in fact, an Oscar-caliber actress even in this role. If it wasn't for her there might not have been any investment induced in me by the characters at all and I would probably have given an unqualified pan of this movie like pretty much everyone else. And Aeon Flux is not a mindless action film. The mind might be pretty damn confused, with a lot of missing neural pathways and crossed wires, but there is a mind present, with something to say about the nature of power and where at least some aspects of biotechnology might lead us one day.

So, all in all, Aeon Flux is not a catastrophe compared to a lot of movies I've seen lately. It kept me just titillated enough to be willing to sit through it, and I was not embarrassed I had seen it in the end. And because I am not easily titillated, especially by sci-fi that doesn't know what it's doing, this is saying something. It's saying it's not bad enough for me to hate it, (mostly because of Theron's performance). It gets a modest Killing Spree. If you're interested in "idea" sci-fi you can do worse. However, if you want "good idea" sci-fi, especially concerning the matter of cloning, then it is essential that you check out Gattaca. This movie demolishes all the competition I know of when it comes to this topic, and is a must if you like more cerebral science fiction fare.