Susan Granger’s review of “Aeon Flux” (Paramount Pictures)
This futuristic sci-fi thriller wasn’t screened for critics before it opened, a ploy that usually indicates the picture’s a stinker. So the question is: are you willing to pay full fare to see Charlize Theron do back-flips in skintight S&M outfits? Because that’s this folly’s primary attraction.
As the story begins, it’s 2415. Most of humanity on Earth was obliterated back in 2011 by a viral plague. Most of those who survived remain dwell in the walled, sanitized city of Bregna, a plush, protected metropolis with no contact with the outside world. When Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron), an energetic, athletic freedom-fighter allied with the rebellious Monicans, is assigned to murder Bregna’s dictator, Trevor Goodchild (Hungarian-born actor Marton Csokas), after his government agents kill her sister (Amelia Warner), she discovers subliminal secrets that were never meant to be revealed. At least, I think that’s what all the confusing commotion is about.
Based on Peter Chung’s cult series of animated shorts created for MTV’s “Liquid Television” series, it’s written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi and clumsily directed by Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight”). So who’s to blame for the fact that it’s truly outlandish and incoherent? Why would Charlize Theron tackle this robotic role after her Oscar-winning performance in “Monster,” particularly when her stunt double gets to make all the memorable moves? Was she trying to copy Halle Berry’s “Catwoman”? And who drugged Frances McDormand to participate as a rebel leader? For that matter, why haven’t Peter Postlethwaite, Jonny Lee Miller and Sophie Okonedo (memorable in “Hotel Rwanda”) fired their agents? On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Aeon Flux” is an inane, inept 4 – but Charlize Theron is certainly one beautiful, sexy woman!
