Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Aeon Flux

(2005)

Very pretty to look at, but rather dumb. Charlize Theron is the main reason I wanted to see this, as she’s very pretty to look at just sitting there, unless she goes to extreme measures as in Monster. And she doesn’t disappoint here. She gets to wear a lot of really sexy clothes, and makes them all look better. She moves like a big cat and jumps and spins like an acrobat. (Okay, she’s got wires on her that you can’t see, but that’s the only way to do these stunts, and she trained for months, and injured herself at one point.) But the set design, the locations, and the other people … all very pretty. Too bad nothing interesting is going on, other than the action scenes. I quickly got to the point where I was FFing through everything but her. The plot is tired, the screenplay is clichéd, and all dialogue—practically every word—is delivered in a low, emotionless monotone.
One virtue: it’s short. That will give you time to take a look at some of the DVD extras, which are actually more interesting than the movie. (Yeah, I know, that’s faint praise indeed, isn’t it?) But check out the one about the locations, which were going to be in Brasilia, but they ended up in Berlin. And most of all, look at the 15 minute short showing the training of the actresses. You can sure see that Charlize trained as a dancer.
Oh, and I have to mention … they stole an idea from me! One character has replaced her feet with large hands, which is … handy, I guess is the word, for climbing and swinging from trees and such. I believe I was the first one to use that, in several of my short stories. Think I should sue?