Memorable, crazy movie

How sad is this?

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Charlize Theron, a catsuit clad assassin for a clandestine opposition group in a dystopian future, looks fabulous and more than carries this tale to drab from dire. The film is not without curiosity with its techno-futurist setting. It has innovative obstacles for the main lead, striking visuals, the usual kinetics and special effects to pass the time. But, the pacing is jerky and spoils the tension at the beginning so much so that the viewer will feel unforgiving when the bigger action sequences arrive.

Need I say more? A movie that manages to make Charlize Theron's character boring and insipid is one insipid, boring movie. I can only imagine she was, to some degree, bored and uninspired on the set of this production, even though technically she was well-cast (could she ever not be?) and certainly, gifted enough to take the money and run fast and happy to her next, hopefully more worthy gig. What the movie otherwise lacks otherwise in terms of writing, casting and direction, the production somewhat makes up for by compelling locations, good enough lighting, and sound/soundtrack that must have sounded rather nice in a big theater umpteen years ago. Aside from these considerations, need I observe any further on this movie than to comment that, as of early 2018, it is available on Netflix? I should subtract one star just for that.

Aeon Flux (2005): Dir: Karyn Kusama / Cast: Charlize Theron, Jonny Lee Miller, Frances McDormand, Pete Postlethewaite, Sophie Okonedo: Apparently based on a video game and easily one of the stupidest films that a person can punish their intelligence to. It rates right up there with Son of the Mask as one of the worst pieces of crap released in 2005. A disease wipes out 99% of mankind although just enough survived to make this film. A walled city shelters the remaining while scientists clone people. Aeon Flux is sent to kill a government leader only to uncover deep secrets. Special effects are creative despite a screenplay that is about as fetching as a third grade book report. The director showcases the bizarre without reason while Charlize Theron drones through dimwitted dialogue and kicks the living crap out of numerous people every two minutes or so. Jonny Lee Miller plays the targeted government leader who shares a past with Flux. Yes, and they also share the experience of being part of this stupid film. Frances McDormand and Pete Postlethewaite appear in laughable roles. The special effects are the payoff and that is pretty much the only thing that this waste of time has to offer. It is based on a video game, and how many of those are worth the price of admission? Flux sucks and should be used as target practice, but first a little baseball bat action upon it would do it justice. Score: 1 / 10

I am quite surprised, astounded even, that this movie has not received better ratings. It holds a meagre 5.5 at IMDb. Rotten Tomatoe's ratings are, as usual, pure nonsense with a 10% rating and a big rotten icon. Personally I think this is much undeserved. Yes the movie is a bit silly at times and yes it does not take a genius to figure out roughly what is about to happen nor what has happened in the "mysterious" past.Still the movie is visually stunning. I would not say that this is a special effects movie in the traditional sense. There are no insane outbursts of explosions, no car chases, no space fights. However, the scenery is quite good and the martial arts stunts are really really good. Maybe I am biased by the fact that I am a male and the main character happens to be a woman in (very) tight suits but to me many scenes where simply visual poetry. There is an especially noteworthy scene where Aeon and a colleague (who have hands instead of feet by the way) are traversing a "garden of death" in order to get to their target. The whole setup is fairly ludicrous. I mean, in an advanced, highly technological, society who would resort to so bizarre means of protecting their main base of operations? Regardless of that, the sequence is just so cool and visually pleasing.The first two thirds of the movie is probably the best. In the last third it goes a bit overboard with pretty ludicrous gun fights which pretty much defies any logic, science fiction or not. If you have seen old Western movies where the good guy just walks down the street against a hundred "baddies" who all constantly misses him as he, on the other hand, blasts them just by pointing his gun in the general direction…well then you get the picture.Charlize Theron was doing a quite good job of portraying Aeon Flux but my favourite actor was really Marton Csokas as Trevor Goodchild. His mostly calm yet quite imposing appearance was very enjoyable to watch. I had more difficulties with Jonny Lee Miller in the bad guy role. I felt that he was a bit bland but then I am watching Elementary on Netflix right now and there he is a so much more dynamic and impressive character.Anyway, if you are a science fiction fan, do watch this movie. It is much better than the ratings give it credit for as far as I am concerned.