This is my honest opinion, and not the crap all the critics have been spouting simply because they were snubbed for a screening.
First of all, I have to say that I’m disappointed, but not altogether surprised by the reviews I’ve seen thus far. Those who review films for a living are notoriously unreliable, and in many cases, they miss the whole point altogether. Rest assured, even though I’m as skeptical as they come, and can find a flaw in absolutely anything, I won’t pick on this movie simply because the plot may be too hard for some people to understand.
This movie takes place 400 years in the future, after disease has wiped out all but about 5 million people. Aeon Flux is a member of a dying breed, and is trying to overthrow the government whose control over the city of Bregna is total. The graphical quality of this film was superb and the aesthetic quality was down-right captivating. The costumes and hairstyles were deliciously futuristic, and for the most part, weren’t futuristic in that tacky and repellent way we know so well. The architecture was quite imaginative and had a beautiful yet claustrophobic symmetry that poignantly paralleled the theme of this film. The beautiful scenery hid a secret, however, that the city was being run by a corrupt government who denied and covered up the fact that its citizens were disappearing. There are plenty more secrets to be revealed, of course, but a review is no place for them.
The cast was pretty impressive, as it included Frances McDormand, Pete Postlethwaite, and the always impressive Charlize Theron. If you were able to get into the mindset the movie prepares for you, you’ll find these characters as believable and as real as they were meant to be. If this movie is simply not your thing, I respect that. On the other hand, trashing it and not even being able to recognize the good things it does offer; that's not even worth listening to.
Charlize gave a terrific performance and she looked just as lethal and capable as the previews promised. She makes for a terrific action hero, leaving the Terminator looking even more obsolete than he was in his last film, and making Lara Croft look like a whiny wannabe. It’s easy to be biased toward Charlize, and if I were capable of being biased toward anyone, it would be her, but I managed to control myself. The way I saw it was that the movie was fantastic and Charlize was phenomenal, but if anyone else had done it (as well as or better) and had that same “it” factor that Charlize has pouring out of every pore on her gorgeous face, I would have felt exactly the same about the film as I do right now. And that is true. Reality: Charlize was in it, and she was amazing, and I can’t think of anyone who has the talent and the physical grace, strength, and stamina to pull it off as well as she did. She did her own stunts and that only added more weight to the heavy, yet balanced, plot. When movies skimp on stunts and “fake it,” it’s obvious. This movie was as authentic as a futuristic action sci-fi thriller could be. Plus, it had an all-consuming romance in it that didn’t come across as cheesy, even when the two characters who are supposed to be opposed to each other end up falling into bed just a few hours after one tries to kill the other. I still have no idea how they managed to pull that one off, and I don’t really care.
All in all, if you are one of those who have an imagination that’s functional enough to let you enjoy a movie as far-fetched and fantasy-esque as this one, you will probably be riveted. If you are more narrow-minded and get nauseous at the mere thought of something that’s not 100% realistic (like many of those who already reviewed this movie) then go do something useful, since you’re probably beyond help and reading this review isn’t going to accomplish anything for you. It’s a movie and therefore has the right to -gasp- take place in the future, and -bigger gasp- have characters that don’t look or act as if they just walked out of Starbucks. This movie is a down and dirty sci-fi thriller with a deep and ever-expanding imagination and it never tried to sell itself as anything else.
