Aeon Flux (2005 Film) Review.

This is not Aeon Flux. Also, this is Aeon Flux.

This film, as has been happily pointed out to me by my spouse, is a sort of thriller, gadget filled spy flick with a Bond'esque reliance on traps and gadgets. It is also, as pointed out my brother, a Wachowski coded slightly sensually coded film filled with inexplicable desire and bizarre sometimes sexually charged instances out of nowhere, based around two who've drifted apart coming closer together. 

To me? Aeon Flux is something that fits quite easily despite its premise into something I would describe as 'comfortable'. A world where a diseases was cured but ninety nine percent of the human population died; so the remnant of humanity, led by Trevor Goodchild, but a resistance group with its prominent agent, Aeon Flux, are out to stop him. Or is that what it seems? The film enjoys the idea of twisting on the narrative and introducing reveals upon reveals, with an unfurling desire to show off 'look, look at the layers!' and it's not bad. There are several systems operating in tandem; Aeon, Trevor, his brother Oren, the council they operate with, the Monican resistance Aeon hails from, her friend and ally Sithandra and the joy of the film is a little working out where the alliances of each group lie and shift as they go.

The setting is very distinct in its colour or use of starker dark tones or black and whites. It seems to want to correspond to the idea of a slightly stark but brightly coloured dystopia; indicating through Aeon's darker outfit scheme the idea of a shadow among the promised land. And the buildings and environments are nicely shot if again, sharp and utilitarian. It is distinct that this world is harsh and the colours, the world feels a little empty in turn. It helps; even if the regime of the Goodchild's is comically authoritarian in turn, with nonsense looking storm troopers with gatling gun that reflect the silliness of some of its aesthetic.

As a story, it does feel weak in some parts; I'm not personally a fan of the femme lead being charmed by the male lead through I guess that's my distaste for Trevor or dislike of such a character, though I understand the enjoyment of it. It is presented as a thing that makes sense to me in the movie and I don't disagree with how its implemented.

The effects vary from odd or even low to quite good and well implemented; it's a little odd the disparity. There are sequences, involving objects from 'pinecones' to grass that are quite well used for the era and it does a good job of it. It's kind of inventive, the things they did and speaks a bit to the spirit of the series it hails from.

I've not spoken much on the TV series as for frame of reference, it would feel quite a different energy to impart here. But it does lose points of all things, on not quite being as unique as the strange psycho sexual mental journey that is the original Aeon Flux. It couldn't hope to capture that in a mainline Hollywood film but for a sotry that is indeed, not that, it does a good job of trying to almost capture the feeling that Aeon Flux held, even if not managing it by far. And that's something to find impressive, even if it could be better.
 

PPicture taken from movie-dummy.blogspot.com