Harry here - with the other two reviews I've gotten today from the film. One from that kankerhouer, Massawyrm - and the other, a lady from Bangkok... Here ya go..
Hola all. Massawyrm here. I’ve got one question and only one question burning on my mind tonight, and no matter how much coffee I down, no matter how many cigarettes I smoke, it won’t go away. Aeon Flux. What the fuck was Paramount thinking? Seriously. Paramount. What the fuck were you thinking. What monkeys at the top level watched this film, didn’t get it, and said “Ramp it up, dump and, and for fucks sake, don’t let any critics see it.” Sure, you may have seen a lot of commercials for Aeon Flux recently – but where’s the buzz? Where’s the reviews? Nowhere. Paramount didn’t want you to hear about it. Paramount was afraid of it. After all, one look at the commercials for this and you can tell right away what a turdball it is, right?
Wrong. Dead fucking wrong. Aeon Flux is good. Really good. While certainly not a mind blowing, life changing experience of a sci-fi film, it certainly earns it’s place among the cream of the heady, cerebral sci-fi crop. This isn’t the Matrix. This isn’t Blade Runner. This isn’t Wrath of Kahn. No. This is Logan’s Run. This is Equilibrium. This is Dark City. This is Gattaca, Lathe of Heaven, and Solaris. This is sci-fi for sci-fi fans and few else. The general public isn’t going to “love” this – but they certainly won’t hate it. Instead, this is one of those films that is quickly going to earn it’s place in the hearts of sci-fi geeks the world over and quickly find its way onto their DVD shelves. And Paramount doesn’t get it. Oh sure, they gave us three different screenings of Yours, Mine and Ours and made sure we all saw Get Rich or Die Tryin’. But what happens when they get their hands on something really smart – something that defies expectations? They hold a screening at 10PM on the Thursday before opening and still demand a “No reviews until after Noon” policy. What? Do they want audiences to figure out how good it is on their own? Do they feel that advertising it to look like it sucks the hair right off my nuts only to turn out to be pretty god damned cool is actually a sound policy? Is that the “big twist?” Surprise, it don’t suck?
You see the critics are the only audiences that are gonna flip for this film. And no, I don’t just mean the employed critics. But you, the armchair critics. The people like us who sit around in all the coffeeshops of the world for hours arguing the merits of film over cigarettes and endless refills. This is a movie for us. This is something for us to chew on, digest and go on about for hours. It’s a movie we’re going to reference in the future when other smart science fiction films come out – immediately followed by an “Oh yeah! I love that – fill in the blank - part!” And yet, these are the people Paramount didn’t want to see it.
So enough about the monkeys at Paramount. Who cares who they let see it and whether or not the trailer made it look like this years Tomb raider? I obviously think this film is cool as all hell. Why?
Well first of all, let’s talk TV. Aeon Flux was one cool as fuck animated series – albeit it made almost zero fucking sense. Oh, no, I know there are those of you out there that “Think” it makes sense, but you’re also the people who think Mulholand Drive makes sense, even though you can’t explain why without using the word dream. No Aeon Flux didn’t make much sense – and that’s what was so god damned cool about it. It didn’t make sense and yet managed to completely tell a story through wicked visuals and cerebral ideas, all the while managing to kill off the main character pretty much every episode. Sometimes, Aeon managed to hold out only for a scant thrity seconds before somebody took her out. It was positively fucking bizarre. And we loved it. So is this AEON FLUX? No. Not really. I mean, it is and it isn’t. It’s very easily an Aeon Flux story – as in it could easily be inserted into the series without really missing a beat – and it does include a handful of iconic Aeon Flux moments (moments that when all is said and done, anyone who didn’t watch the show is just gonna be baffled) but to truly be Aeon Flux, Aeon has to be, well, expendable. And let’s face it, with Charlize Theron in the role – come on, I mean really. Am I spoling it to say that an actress like Charlize Theron doesn’t play expendable? But this is so smart, so sharp, so delightfully unique that you just don’t care.
First and foremost, the sci-fi aspects of the film are just amazing. The trailers want to show you killer grass and explosive marbles, but that barely scratches the surface. This movie is chock full of genuine, inventive, almost transcendent ideas in science fiction. There are some gadgets and concepts in this film, little things peppered throughout, that just inspires your mind to follow it to the ideas logical conclusion. It all makes sense. Every bit of it is functional in a way that isn’t simply convenient for the plot, but rather exists in a world all its own and really seems to have a purpose within the framework of the world. And that right there my friends is the hallmark of good sci-fi. Aeon Flux is its own world, it’s a science fiction wonderland that doesn’t want you to simply turn your brain off – it wants to challenge you to think about it. Not in that grandiose “We have a message for you to think about” sort of way, but rather in a “Here’s something for you to think about – it’s not important enough to spend time explaining, but you’re gonna like thinking about it” way. Think Dark City. Think Equilibrium.
Secondly, the casting. Theron aside, there isn’t a powerhouse to be found in this film anywhere. Rather, it’s peppered with several of my favorite character actors who all do fantastic work. Marton Csokas is rapidly becoming one of my favorite people to see show up in a movie. From his two fantastic performances this year in The Great Raid and Kingdom of Heaven, he easily moves into a third (albeit more sedate) role in a cool film this year. And for those who don’t think that’s a strong enough pedigree, look him up. Yes, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars Episode II. Now, you kids go have your Star Wars versus Lord of the Rings discussion and let the big kids talk. The guy’s great and here he’s as solid as his character allows. Csokas is really someone to watch. A few more really cool roles like these and he’s gonna be big time. Playing off Csokas is the much maligned Jonny Lee Miller, who I know many of you love to hate – but come on, the guy did Hackers, Trainspotting and Plunkett and Macleane, one of which I know you all love and the other two, well, fuck right off, I love those god damned movies. It’s nice to see Jonny get a really good film again. It helps me forget about Mindhunters. And Dracula 2000. And, well, the fact that everybody confuses him with Chris O’Donnell. And yeah, he’s perfect here. But just to round things out, there’s a small, but wonderful role by Pete Postlethwaite – one of the small handful of actors that simply brings a smile to my face every moment he steps into frame for the first time. Here he’s is given a part in a sequence that feels like something right out of Dune and proves to be the most “Aeon Flux” of Aeon Flux.
Is the movie perfect? No. It starts off slow and has a few moments in the early action sequences (all of which managed to find their way into the trailer – way to go Paramount!) that feel cliché and forced, trying to establish in a very “been there done that” sort of way that just doesn’t work - at first. But then things start getting weird, then a story begins to develop and what ends up happening is that the action sequences are what get us from point A to point B – not the other way around. Normally in a film like this we’re given mediocre, unoriginal story to take us from action scene to action scene. Instead, here were given mediocre, unoriginal action scenes to take us from one cool exposition sequence to another. If you want to see this to see some awesome, blow your ass out of the back of your seat Matrix sort of shit, this ain’t the movie for you. The action is the weakest thing in the film (which is why paramount probably freaked the fuck out), but it’s never bad, never boring. Just not amazing. Especially not when compared to the story.
You hearing me? This is a film entirely about story. About ideas. About visiting another universe entirely. And it’s good. Really good. It’s a movie written specifically for the type of people who read AICN. It’s a movie for people who like to talk about movies. Go. Enjoy. It doesn’t suck. Oh, and take a friend. You’re gonna want to get a cup of coffee and talk about it for a while.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. I know I will.
Massawyrm
Ok you sad saps, come kiss my hairy unwiped anus, if you think you got a pair!
Then this gal from Bangkok didn't dig it...
Hi Harry, I just saw Aeon Flux in Bangkok - guess movies come out here much earlier to beat the pirates.
Anyway, thought you might be interested in my review. Here goes and feel free to edit as I've not written a film review before.
So anyway, I just saw Aeon Flux and my overriding thought is this: Poor Charlize Theron. She broke her neck to make a complete mess of a film. I haven't seen the original comic of Aeon Flux so can't comment on how accurate the film is, but it is very clear that it is aimed at the same teenage guy MTV crowd. Charlize looks great, very droolworthy, but that's basically the only good thing about Aeon Flux. My main criticism is that it tries too hard to be cool, and so naturally fails on all accounts. The sets and costumes are overstylised and just come across as standard b-grade sci fi with the usual Japanese inspired, minimalist touches. I even saw some bonsai trees...
It's hard to remember that Theron can actually act. I was also surprised to see Frances McDormand and Pete Postlethwaite playing totally insipid characters. I kept thinking that maybe the director pulled them out of a burning building and so they owed her one.
The storyline is quite non-sensical and not even worth going into. It felt like it was written by an amateur screenwriter. Also, the dialogue was incredibly clunky, as was the delivery by the actors.
Action-wise, there are plenting of flying bullets, leg kicks and backflips but again, it just tries so hard to be cool that it backfires.
And lastly, all the attempts to connect emotionally with the audience were incredibly trite and cliched. Think 'single tear drop coursing down the face' type stuff.
Guess that's it. Sorry to be so negative!
Cheers,
SP
