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apm
May 21, 2001
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo

Aeon Flux is faithful to the cartoon series of the same name whose 10 episodes were produced for MTV in 1995.
This is a movie that lacked critic pre-screenings for unknown reasons, and has generally been panned by critics who were/are not familiar with the original series.

That said, Aeon Flux is indeed faithful to the half-hour series. The score is very similar to that of the original show, but not identical, unfortunately.
The animated shorts which were also produced at the time of the series, in which Aeon was killed by the end of each tale, should be considered separate and not compared to this film. If any comparison is to be made, it should be that of an 11th episode in the full length series, rather than one of the shorts.

Set 400 years in the future, 99% of the planet has been killed by disease.
Trevor Goodchild, along with his brother Oren, have developed a cure for the disease.
After the death of Aeon's sister Una Flux, by the Goodchild corporation, Aeon is determined to bring an end to the current regime. She learns that Trevor has been cloning human beings, including himself and Aeon, to keep the human race alive.
Aeon's sister Una was one of the first humans in 400 years to naturally conceive a child, and after learning she was killed by Oren Goodchild, Aeon bands with Trevor to stop his brother from killing those who threaten the validity of continuing the cloning operation.

The action is swift and cold, and much like the series determining sympathy for characters is an apprehensive feat.

I can understand why many people unfamiliar with the television show were confused by the movie (despite the straightforward plot), but in the end all the necessary elements for an episode are present. If this was an episode in the cartoon series, it may not be the most intriguing or even the best, but it would stand up to the others just fine nonetheless. I believe the movie is much more enjoyable having seen the show beforehand.
One of my friends commented as we left the theater that if they hadn't been told it was Aeon Flux, they wouldn't have been able to tell and that they would have seen it as a random sci-fi action movie. This is not an inaccurate judgment, but at the same time the film does remain true to its name. In the series the episodes were entirely independent of each other.

I can say that the capture of the fly in Aeon's eyelashes at the beginning of the film put me at ease.

RATING: 4.5

PROS: Somewhat good-aligned, calculated, and mysterious Aeon played faithfully by Charlize Theron
CONS: No theme music, not enough unique characters that were prevalent in the series, too much dialogue!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402022/

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Fanten
Dec 5, 2005

by elpintogrande
What would happen if ikea ran the world? youd get bregna.

a good movie. Scifi action fans go see this

Wickedcapedkid
Oct 7, 2002

Bam!
Saw this opening night. I was rather perplexed by the lack of reviews and the number of people that simply dismissed the movie as "crap" and didn't bother with it since the MTV show was pretty cool.

The movie captures some of the series' themes quite faithfully. It is very weird and has a lot of pretty amazing visuals in it. The story is also pretty interesting as well, like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel.

Rating: 4.5/5

Pros: Awesome visuals, action, Charlize Theron makes a good Aeon.

Cons: Ending was a bit insipid, music could've been better.

Vice Zoomler Aestro
Apr 4, 2003
pray the rosary dawgs
not a review

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Somebody fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Dec 11, 2005

Czar Like Stick
Jul 8, 2004

by mons all madden
It really doesn't feel like a modern sci-fi movie, but that's a good thing. Actually, the voice-overs at certain parts of the film reminded me more of a good old 60's and 70's sci-fi flick. That said, the action sequences were definitely more modern, with fast-cutting that made it hard to tell what was going on, and that hurt it. But I have to say that the story actually held it together pretty well.

I'd give it a 4.

Pros: Decent story, captures a lot of the feel of the old series.

Cons: Cut in a way that makes it hard to follow some of the action sequences, ending is a bit "meh," doesn't use the setting and props of the old series.

MikeC
Jul 19, 2004
BITCH ASS NARC
Declarations:

Had no idea what Aeon Flux was before going to see it. Did not know it was a cartoon of any sort prior (though after hearing goon testimony to its goodness i will have to check it out). Read no reviews, basically I went in with a clean slate.

Voted 1.5 (Pretty Bad) - Spoilers are in here but since OP has already given away the story, I hope you don't mind.

A classic screwup from the studios which shows what happens when you don't hire competent screenwriters and then attempt to tackle too many high level concepts for its own good.

I have read arguments which attempt to resolve pheonmenon of bad reviews with the fact that perhaps the critics did not watch the cartoon and thus was not able to understand the film. I reject that. The film does indeed convey all the necessary information to understand the plot. After walking out, I understand that the world's humans were wiped out to 1% before a cure was found, a single city remains which started out as a temporary solution until they found out that folks who got cured were sterile and thus they had to clone everyone over and over again. Necessity dictates that a non-democratic government is in place due to the fact that a fuckup could result in the extinction of the remaining 5 million humans but when nature takes its course and people become non-sterile again, a cliched protypical powerhungry second in command begins with totalitarian measures so that him and his clones can stay alive and rule over the all of mankind...forever. In the midst of this is the classic underground rebel that is somehow better trained and equipped than its government counterpart and the super-heroine super-agent comes to save the day. Did I miss anything?

Heres the problem. The movie can't decide whether its an action move or a philosphical movie. It certainly decided that it didn't want to become a longer movie so that it could satisfy both ends of the spectrum. So what you get is an hour and a half of admittedly pretty good action mixed in with some hilariously bad dialog that desperatly attempts to dig into the philosphical issues but runs out of time and results in dialog hilarity with cliche after cliche piled on with next to no attempt to hide them.

Its not like there wasn't a lot the film could have taken time to engage in some serious discussion. Is cloning as a last resort moral? If it isn't and there was no other choice but extinction, is it reasonable then to clone? What is a perfect society? Is the supposed inherent imperfections of human behaviour a valid justification for an oppressive state which does in fact provide something very close to heaven on earth if you just accept the facts and live your life according to the guidelines. Is immortality a less than satifactory choice when compared to a single lifetime because everything is made more precious because of its very impermanent nature?

Instead of a good discussion we get extremely bad glosses with bad dialog and bad cliches. Its really a shame because there was material to work with. They either need to ditch the philosophy and simply the dialog, or they need to allot the time needed serious discussion if you are going bring the ideas up.

miltthetank
Apr 20, 2005

Instead of bawling like a little girl you should focus on getting some payback
Posting the review I wrote for the school paper:

It seems like everyone was expecting the film version of Aeon Flux to be cinematic garbage. For a variety of reasons, it seemed almost predestined to be a poor successor to the original animated series. For example, the original show actively rebelled against the bounds of continuity; much like Kenny from South Park, the main character, Aeon, died at the end of many of the episodes and vignettes. This type of plot structure is disruptive in a way that many would have a hard time enjoying; I'm sure it was one of the first features of the original program to be removed from the adaptation. Furthermore, given that the film was rated PG-13, I expected much of the sexual and violent content to be dumbed down, rendering the entire project a waste of time. However, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. While not a superb film, it was much better than I'm sure anyone could have anticipated.

While there are details that were left out from the original series, the core of the story remains. Aeon Flux is a citizen of Bregna, a seemingly utopian society. It was built to house the 5 million survivors of a plague that swept the Earth 400 years prior to the beginning of the film. Although this society seems perfect, there are numerous problems. Random people continue to disappear off the streets, and the leaders of the society are unquestionable. A rebel organization, the Monicans, has formed to forcibly depose the leader of Bregna, a scientist named Trevor Goodchild. As it happens, Aeon is a member of the rebels. When she is sent on a mission to kill Goodchild, she seems predestined to succeed. However, one spoken word from Goodchild unlocks a mystery that threatens to destroy both Aeon and the society of Bregna.

The plot of Aeon Flux is handled very well. Although there are some confusing parts, the majority of the film remains straightforward even as it refuses to pander to its audience. Aeon Flux forces one to think in order to understand its plot, something I find admirable in a film. In addition, the twists and turns of the story never seem forced or thrown in, a trait that other filmmakers could stand to learn from.

The atmosphere of the film is handled in a remarkable and unique fashion. In general, films that depict the future portray their societies as technologically advanced. Electronic toys run rampant in these movies. In contrast, Aeon Flux shows what happens when biology, not computer and electronic engineering, is allowed to run rampant. Thus, rather than presenting a future of flying cars and laser rifles, we instead see drugs tailor-made to allow communication between two people and fruit-like sentry turrets grown from trees. This aspect of Aeon Flux was quite refreshing.

Aeon Flux also does a decent job of portraying the atmosphere of the cartoons. Although the characters don't look very much like the citizens of Bregna as portrayed by animator Peter Chung, I can sympathize with the director, as I am sure it is quite difficult to realistically depict people whose waists are the size of their heads. The essence of the cartoon is still there, although it has been dampened down quite a bit to fit the PG-13 rating. The violence is more stylistic than graphic, and the sexual aspects of the original show are essentially gone. However, the film still does its job capably, and although the creators of Aeon Flux definitely should have aimed for an R rating, I was still pleased with the overall product.

The acting was fairly capable. Charlize Theron doesn't exactly reprise her Oscar-winning performance in Monster, but performs admirably well as eye candy. The rest of the cast is merely decent. I was, however, pleased to see that Jonny Lee Miller (of Hackers fame) and Kobayashi from The Usual Suspects are still getting work, and I hope that this trend continues into the foreseeable future.

As it turns out, Aeon Flux is a very capable adaptation of the television series. Although my fears were correct in that a great deal of content didn't carry over from the show, the style does, to some degree, remain. In addition, Aeon Flux adds to the universe of the original show in a manner much more pleasing to the mental palate than some other directors (I'm looking at you, George Lucas).

I would have been pleased if Aeon Flux merely failed to disappoint me. However, it actually ended up being a satisfying viewing experience. Although my recommendation to see it is tempered with the caveat that catching a matinee showing would be a good idea, it nevertheless remains a good recommendation.

Rating: 4.0

FreelanceSocialist
Nov 19, 2002
I just got back from seeing it and I have to say it was not bad, at all. I enjoyed the story and the twist towards the end. The acting wasn't top-notch, but it was by no means poor. The cinematography was typical for an action movie and there were no really memorable scenes (think the Lobby from The Matrix). The visual style was believable compared to most futuristic movies. I will definitely take my friends to see this as it was worth the price of admission and was a good time overall.

Overall 4.0/5.0

PrincessKate
Mar 16, 2004

Let's get it on, honey.
First off, I have never seen the cartoons (but will now).

While this movie isn't ground-breaking or 'oh my god I am going again tomorrow to see that', it definately does not deserve all the terrible reviews its getting. The movie is very watchable. In fact, a lot of the parts are very interesting and I thought a lot of the sci-fi elements were extremely creative. It's cool to see a colorful vision of the future and almost all of the future stuff is stuff you've never seen before.

The biggest problem is the story. With a better screenplay, I think this could've been an excellent movie. For the first half of the movie, its very confusing as to whats going on. The editing doesn't help either. Once you get to the meat of the conflict though, it's pretty interesting. The other problem is the special effects. You can tell there wasn't a ton of money for this movie. I was pretty impressed with the scenery and cool future stuff, but the gymnastics stuff was lackluster. There was a lot of sloppy cuts edited together to try and convery movement, but you could tell it wasn't there.

Overall, a definate rent.
3/5

Eyecannon
Mar 13, 2003

you are what you excrete
I fully expected this film to suck balls, but was completely shocked by how awesome it was. The plot was surprisingly good, and the imagery of the future and all the devices was amazing. Almost every frame of the movie was artistic and visionary.

My only gripe about the film is that the action editing kind of sucked. The fight scenes were all a bit too chopped up to be enjoyable.

In summary, I was entranced by the visuals enough to not care about the sub-optimal fighting.

4.5/5

Dade Murphy
Oct 17, 2005

by Lowtax
I just got back from seeing this. Read a little of the thread before I went so I was thinking it was going to be pretty bad. I really enjoyed it though. The plot was a little thing, but workable. Some of the stuff streched the sci-fi bit a little, but it wasn't too bad. But I really liked the move, it seemed to flow well and the visuals were amazing. It had a nice pace, didn't seem to drag or rush too much and was pretty even. Plus, Charlize Theron is hot.

4.5/5

Dade Murphy fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Dec 17, 2005

Majestic
Mar 19, 2004

Don't listen to us!

We're fuckwits!!
Really impressed with this film.

I was expecting something maybe a little enjoyable to a sci-fi fan, but a poor piece of cinema overall.

On the contrary I thought some of the visual effects were lovely (the mental/psychic communication was done beautifully), the action was good, and the characters and plot were actually really quite well presented. I enjoyed this film from start to finish.

I had seen some of the cartoons but never enough to quite figure out what was going on in them, so I can't comment on how faithful it was to the series.

My girlfriend, who doesn't particularly like action films and has never seen the cartoon, also really enjoyed it.

4.5/5 from me.

LuckySevens
Feb 16, 2004

fear not failure, fear only the limitations of our dreams

I found it somewhat ironic that the cartoon was supposed to be anti-american action films, yet here they are, turning it into an American action film.

I didn't mind it though, it kept me occupied.

2.5/5

TheBercho
Feb 27, 2006

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God
a

TheBercho fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Nov 11, 2012

Omnislash
May 25, 2004
A screaming comes across the sky....

LuckySevens posted:

I found it somewhat ironic that the cartoon was supposed to be anti-american action films, yet here they are, turning it into an American action film.

Exactly. While the movie certainly wasn't awful, it missed out on all the little touches that made Aeon Flux so neat. The show purposefully didn't give backstory so you were forced to decide if you were ready to handle a show where the main character died almost every episode and each story was practically a world unto itself. The movie's attempts to shoehorn a meaningless "death is what makes life have meaning" concept on top of a watered-down Aeon and Trevor with a goofy backstory made me want to barf, as did the extremely forced dialogue, like when Trevor tells his goons "You have a choice. You are FREE!"

As was said, this is the kind of movie the show would mock. Add in yet more ADD action scene editing and you get something that sucks more and more as it goes on.

3/5

Wutasumi
Apr 25, 2006

AG: 8ut I was such a confused kid! I didn't know anything a8out what killing really means.
My main complaint about this movie was the terrible... I'm not quite sure what to call it. It seemed like the entire movie was an excuse to move from action scene to action scene with little regard to the plot. I've never seen the cartoon, (Though I might if it's on DvD, mostly because my friends told me it was good, not because of this movie) but I was never confused with the plot.

But it did LOOK nice throughout, and some of the action scenes were pretty cool. I'm going to go with a three. Go ahead and get it off Netflix, but I would strongly reccomend not buying it.

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etalian
Mar 20, 2006

The movie is good only if you like bad movies. It had a good number of laugh out loud moments and the bad acting was unintentionally hilarious. The fight scenes are boring and unimaginative. It's another Sci-Fi disaster of a movie along the lines of Ultraviolet or Battlefield Earth.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/aeon_flux/

As a movie 1.0/5.0
As a funny B-movie 2.5/5.0

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