Review of Æon Flux (2005) by Stuart K — 10 Mar 2013

Directed by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight (2000) and Jennifer's Body (2008)), this is based upon Peter Chung's MTV animated series that was broadcast in the early to mid 1990's, this film version could have been a good adaptation, and visually, there's some great sets on display.

However, after a poor test screening, Paramount cut 30 minutes from the film, instantly dumbing it down, which is a shame, as it could have been good. In 2011, a virus wiped out 99% of the world's population, flash forwards to 2415, and the remainder of the world's population live in the walled city of Bregna, which is run by a team of scientists.

Life seems perfect, but people are randomly going missing, so Æon Flux (Charlize Theron) a member of resistance team, the Monicans, is sent to kill the government's leader Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas), who was responsible for the murder of Æon's sister, Una (Amelia Warner), but the deeper Æon gets, the more she finds out about political skulduggery and conspiracies involving how Bregna is run, making her question her loyalty to the Monicans.

It could have been a good film, but it does feel too confusing and it's full of plotholes throughout, despite the best efforts of a really good cast. Another problem is the original series was small and contained, this is big, sprawling and epic, which works against it.