Aeon Flux

The world has been nearly annihilated by a virus in the year 2011. A cure is created by Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) and the five million survivors are confined to one of the last virus-free zones, a city called Bregna. The Goodchild dynasty rules for 400 years, and, in the year 2415 a resistance fights against the government's control; they're called Monicans. Their top operative, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) fights in the name of the sorrows of centuries past and for the disappeared, those taken by the government who cannot be found again and also in revenge for the murder of her sister, Una. Meanwhile, a change is coming for the Goodchild regime. Trevor's brother, Oren (Johnny Lee Miller,) has been planing to overthrow his brother's leadership. But something strange lies in the history of Bregna; and it touches everyone, but especially Trevor and Aeon...and it complicates everyone's carefully laid plans.

As any dystopian story, a certain coldness permeates the tone of Aeon Flux. From the color scheme to the cast, a metallic child resonates through each layer of production. Marton Csokas, Johnny Lee Miller and Charlize Theron are perfectly cast as their performances are as restrained as their characters need to be. And they each register a different level of cold. Csokas' Trevor is calm, soothing, like swimming in a cool pool of water; massaging and therapeutic. It's quite relaxing to watch, quite different to his usual roles which are full of acid and malice, in this he's compassionate, loving and seductive. Miller's Oren, like Csokas, shows a different side for him, too. He's usually the charismatic, cute boy that makes all of us girls swoon. Here, he's brazen, malicious and hot in a dull, destructive way. He's willing to damage whomever and whatever he can to achieve his objectives. And Theron: she's sharp, sleek and shaped like a sword; a warrior to the core, trained only for her mission and unwilling to feel anything else.

As far as the story goes, it knit quite loosely. Between the action sequences (which are top notch, by the way,) the story looses a bit of its steam and becomes very cliche, supported only by the production design, and we're left only with a few interesting visuals. The film is extremely lacking in emotion, keeping us at arm's length with the characters we're to be connecting with; this is not a quality good stories are supposed to have. The affection I have for this film is primarily nostalgic, as it reminds me of my brothers (as we watched the animated series this movie's based upon,) and I thoroughly enjoy the cast.

****

In: Pete Postlethwaite

Out: Charlize Theron

Coming Soon: The Italian Job