...the only clever thing about this enterprise is Terry Goodchild’s last name.
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As monolithic as Hollywood tries to make itself seem to be, it really is a small industry town. Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand, recipients of Best-Actress Oscars, appeared in both "Aeon Flux" and "North Country" last year. "Aeon Flux" was a star action vehicle for Charlize Theron, a financial reward of sorts for de-glamming in the gritty "Monster". "Catwoman" was a star action vehicle for Halle Berry, who won a Best-Actress Oscar for her de-glamming in the gritty "Monster´s Ball". "Aeon Flux" and "Catwoman", like "Elektra", received terrible reviews and did poorly at the box office. Most-importantly, "Aeon Flux" and "Catwoman", like "Elektra", are terrible movies, even though they are populated with Oscar winners and Oscar nominees (Pete Postlethwaite and Sophie Okonedo in "Aeon Flux", Sharon Stone in "Catwoman", and Terence Stamp in "Elektra").
It´s not as if audiences don´t like to see women who can fight. Indeed, for a variety of reasons, humans are often strongly attracted to the idea of watching women fighting. Female wrestlers are a huge attraction at wrestling events. The popular "Kill Bill" movies are filled with women wielding swords. Japanese animation´s bottom line is fed by girls-with-guns. What we got with "Aeon Flux" and "Catwoman" (as well as "Elektra") was garbage so stinky that they couldn´t even make money off of people who like to "turn off their brains" for popcorn flicks like "Armageddon".
The odd thing about "Aeon Flux" is that, even with four Oscar winners and nominees in its cast, it is the exact same kind of crap as the action movies featuring Milla Jovovich ("Resident Evil", "Ultraviolet") are. In fact, during one fight sequence, Charlize Theron wears an all-white costume that makes her look like Milla Jovovich in a fight sequence out of "Ultraviolet". Even though Charlize Theron did her own stunts and got hurt for her efforts, there is nothing commendable about the lead actress´s enthusiasm. It´s obvious that Theron doesn´t know how to fight for real, so her movements look lame (when you can comprehend her movements, that is). The fights look terrible because they were shot and edited awkwardly.
The story is about a totalitarian regime set four hundred years in the future. Aeon Flux (Theron) is assigned to kill the dictator, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas). However, there is a twist involving genetic cloning. The movie is merely boring before it reveals its twist. Afterwards, we´re told that clones retain the memories of its forebears. This is a ridiculous notion that basically destroys any credibility that the movie might´ve had prior to revealing its twist. This means that the only clever thing about this enterprise is Trevor Goodchild´s last name.
I haven´t seen any episodes of the short-lived "Aeon Flux" TV series, but that´s really of little consequence. This big-screen adaptation is a loud, boring mess that does not contribute to even advances in cinema´s technical realm. Ironically, after much criticism for being risk-adverse (both financially and artistically), Sherry Lansing greenlighted this production to show the world that she was not afraid to spend a lot of money on "tentpole" productions. "Aeon Flux" wound up being the kind of movie that led to Sherry Lansing being forced to resign as Paramount´s head of production.
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[release]18044[/release]