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AEON FLUX
STARRING: Charlize Theron, Martin Csokas, Frances McDormand
DIRECTED BY Karyn Kusama
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It’s based on an MTV cartoon, but spend a few minutes with Aeon Flux and you’ll see that this movie could’ve easily been based on a video game, comic book or the alcohol-induced daydream of some putz with a lycra fetish.
Another in a long line of "what if?" apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers, Aeon Flux is especially dumb – not as much in conception as in its outlandish execution.
Set in the 25th century utopian city of Bregna, the only city to survive a virus wiping out 99 per cent of the Earth’s population 400 years prior, Aeon Flux stars Charlize Theron as the titular character, the top assassin for an insurgent group trying to set the society free from the patriarchal ruling counsel, led by scientist-dictator Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas).
Exactly why this band of rebels known as the Monicans want to knock the powers that be off their perch isn’t terribly clear – we’re given a good enough peek at their tight-ass "Big Brother" style of government, where citizens are monitored around the clock and a select few occasionally "disappear" without a trace, as reason enough. Just so long as Theron gets all bendy in those tight outfits while brawling and dodging bullets, it’s all good, I suppose.
And really, looks seem to be the only thing Aeon Flux has going for it, and I’m not talking about director Karyn Kusama’s (Girlfight) rather uninspired vision of the future, either (aside from a sperm-shaped blimp, there’s not a whole lot we haven’t seen before). Most of the buzz surrounding this woofer will likely be equally dispensed between Theron’s curves and co-star Frances McDormand’s goofy makeover. And unless you’re here for the laughs, Theron’s is certainly the more satisfying image – if her butt-hugging jumpsuit doesn’t provide enough of a rise, there’s that shot of her emerging from a deep sleep wearing something resembling nipple suspenders.
If only Kusama could’ve provided as much coherence as she does cleavage, we’d have something. |
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