I’ve been a fan of science fiction for decades and the surge of genre A-list films since 1977’s Star Wars has, for me, been a delight.
May 19, 2006 (Press Release) --
I’ve been a fan of science fiction for decades and the surge of genre A-list films since 1977’s Star Wars has, for me, been a delight. I find that such films typically fall into one of three general categories. The first is utter rubbish, films that take themselves very seriously but don’t have the scripts to support the filmmakers’ ambitions. Plausibility and logic are discarded to “enhance the entertainment value of the film.” The second is usually very stylish, with high production values and a respectable cast. The script offers some intriguing concepts and the pace and visuals are sufficiently involving that you don’t perceive the plot holes until after the closing credits roll. And the third category simply soars with a wonderful script, compelling visuals, fine performances, and a plot that stands up to scrutiny during a shared post-viewing bottle of wine with film-loving friends. Aeon Flux falls into category number two.
It’s hundreds of years in the future. Mankind has been decimated; a virus has killed virtually everyone on the planet. A small city of survivors numbering five million is isolated, surrounded by a dense jungle held in check by herbicides automatically sprayed just beyond the city’s walls. The city is a modern utopia called Bregna, run by the descendent of the man who devised the cure that saved this last bit of humanity. He’s Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) and, with his deputy and brother, Oren Goodchild (Jonny Lee Miller), he runs the city-state like a benevolent despot. Alas, Oren is not quite as benevolent as his brother.
The citizens of Bregna are troubled. Many are inflicted with depression and odd, troubling dreams. People disappear from the streets, never to be heard of again. There is a dark side to this utopia; this is fascism disguised as paradise. A rebel group arises, reacting to the mink-lined prison by fighting a guerilla war against the government; they are known as the Monicans.
Monican Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is a highly skilled assassin, and she is assigned to kill Trevor Goodchild. She’s highly motivated. The administration misinterpreted a surveilled conversation between Aeon and her sister, Una (Amelia Warner), and government agents kill Aeon’s sister. Aeon’s infiltration of the center of government with fellow Monican agent Sithandra (Sophie Okonedo) leads to deadly confrontations and revelations that will shake the very foundation of this society.
Aeon Flux was directed by Karyn Kusama. It’s based on an animated series created by Peter Chung. The film is a visual delight. I was surprised to learn in the supplements the nature of the shooting locations, but I should not have been. Cities decimated in contemporary wars and rebuilt are frequently punctuated with highly modern constructs that, with a little enhancement with CGI, easily make the transition into the future. The screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is all style and flash, with only a modest nod to logic. Genetic memory and the population’s inability to perceive an underlying repopulation process are the most serious flaws. The cliche of Aeon’s enemies’ inability to shoot straight, repeatedly missing her with hundreds of rounds of automatic weapons fire is another. But as I described in my opening, this is a film that diverts with pace and visuals. Any silliness won’t distract until you actually take the time to think about it.
Charlize Theron is a fine actress with considerable range. Here she’s appropriately repressed, limiting her emotional range. After all, in a society where surveillance can detect the improper thinking that can get one killed, it’s best to be somewhat impassive. She’s unexpectedly physical in this role; her athleticism and stunts make clear that she deserves a place in the pantheon of super-heroines that developed in earnest after Alien’s Ripley first made her way to the screen.
This film is moderately entertaining and has a clever payoff that is both intriguing and slightly nonsensical. But I was left with the impression that more could have been done with the source material if only the screenwriters had been a little more imaginative.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a typical Sony Pictures Home Entertainment transfer. The colors are stunning. The flesh tones are spot on. Shadow detail is great. There is a pretty good sense of finely grained textures and small object detail. Shadow detail is very good. I didn’t notice any macroblocking or mosquito noise. That’s the good news. Alas, the transfer has typical Sony edge halos on every high contrast transition. This disc is highly watchable, but I’m going to be very curious to compare this transfer to the Blu-ray Disc version we can expect to be released this summer.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is terrific. As the film opens, there is an iconic sequence based on the original animated series. A fly is involved. It seems to orbit the theater, its buzz smoothly panning from one speaker to the other. EX decoding perfectly enhances the fly’s audible flight path. This is merely a hint of things to come. The surrounds are quite active, placing both ambient and directional cues in all three surround channels. Deep bass is present that can be felt as well as heard. Dialog remains distortion-free throughout. And Graeme Revell’s raucous score is presented with punch and verve.
The alternate language is in French. An alternative English track is in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional subtitles are in Spanish and English, for which Closed Captions are also included.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The disc opens with that annoying but familiar slick anti-piracy promo (0:48) that, thankfully, may be skipped with the next chapter button. Next is a preprogrammed series of three trailers (5:36) for: Mission: Impossible III; a DVD box set of South Park; and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. These may be skipped as well.
The disc offers two feature-length commentaries. The first is by producer Gale Anne Hurd and Charlize Theron. They describe location shooting and the rigors of the physical work required for the film. Theron describes an injury that caused her to stand down and delay the production. Perhaps having few insights to offer, Hurd discusses the nature of the plot and describes character motivation. Theron, on the other hand, does share some anecdotes from the shoot.
The second commentary is by screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. What is significant is that the writers make clear that the film is a bit of a disappointment and they cast the blame on studio interference. They describe the politics working for a major studio. And it becomes very clear that the film we see on the screen is not the film they wrote, so perhaps my criticism of the writers was premature. Each track is informative in its way. Neither is compelling, but within each are little nuggets worth discovering.
Also on the disc is a generous selection of featurettes that address various aspects of the making of the film. These are well produced, minimize fluff, and offer insight into the production. First up is Creating A World: Aeon Flux (20:49). The filmmakers, Theron, and other principal actors participate. There is quite a bit of discussion about the difficulties of translating the somewhat avant-garde animated series into a feature film. Animator Peter Cheung is also interviewed and you’ll see a few excerpts from the animated series.
The Locations of Aeon Flux (14:47) reveals how and why the filmmakers selected the location they did. The short also demonstrates the differences between real buildings and their enhanced versions. I was fascinated by the odd and almost surreal locations that were used for the shoot. For example, I would never have guessed that one location was an animal shelter.
The Stunts of Aeon Flux (9:03) reveals that Charlize Theron did virtually all of her stunts and, as someone with a dancing background, was able to be extremely physical for the film. We watch her training and see her perform some of the gags, both with and without wirework. As you might expect, she received considerable martial arts training.
In The Costume Design Workshop of Aeon Flux (13:37), the costume designer explains her artistic approach to the film. The costumers went for elegance rather than the sexuality found on the animated series. The short gives many behind the scenes people well-earned exposure and credit.
The Craft of the Set Photographer on Aeon Flux (3:34) demonstrates the role of the stills photographer on set. Partially technical, partially artistic, partially descriptive of the purpose of the stills, this is a rather interesting little short.
The film’s theatrical trailer (2:15), like all the visual supplements on the disc, is presented in non- anamorphic video. And the last supplement is where we began. The three previews that open the disc are available from the Special Features menu.
The 92-minute film is organized into fourteen chapters.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
I have mixed feeling about this film. It’s an enjoyable enough experience, with fine visuals and a great audio track, but whether the fault lies with the screenwriters or with Paramount, the plot flaws can distract. The commentaries are merely so-so, but the featurettes add up to a nice, comprehensive look at the making of the film. The disc is worth considering; just allow yourself to be swept up by the stylish presentation and ignore the subtle flaws.
It’s hundreds of years in the future. Mankind has been decimated; a virus has killed virtually everyone on the planet. A small city of survivors numbering five million is isolated, surrounded by a dense jungle held in check by herbicides automatically sprayed just beyond the city’s walls. The city is a modern utopia called Bregna, run by the descendent of the man who devised the cure that saved this last bit of humanity. He’s Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) and, with his deputy and brother, Oren Goodchild (Jonny Lee Miller), he runs the city-state like a benevolent despot. Alas, Oren is not quite as benevolent as his brother.
The citizens of Bregna are troubled. Many are inflicted with depression and odd, troubling dreams. People disappear from the streets, never to be heard of again. There is a dark side to this utopia; this is fascism disguised as paradise. A rebel group arises, reacting to the mink-lined prison by fighting a guerilla war against the government; they are known as the Monicans.
Monican Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is a highly skilled assassin, and she is assigned to kill Trevor Goodchild. She’s highly motivated. The administration misinterpreted a surveilled conversation between Aeon and her sister, Una (Amelia Warner), and government agents kill Aeon’s sister. Aeon’s infiltration of the center of government with fellow Monican agent Sithandra (Sophie Okonedo) leads to deadly confrontations and revelations that will shake the very foundation of this society.
Aeon Flux was directed by Karyn Kusama. It’s based on an animated series created by Peter Chung. The film is a visual delight. I was surprised to learn in the supplements the nature of the shooting locations, but I should not have been. Cities decimated in contemporary wars and rebuilt are frequently punctuated with highly modern constructs that, with a little enhancement with CGI, easily make the transition into the future. The screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is all style and flash, with only a modest nod to logic. Genetic memory and the population’s inability to perceive an underlying repopulation process are the most serious flaws. The cliche of Aeon’s enemies’ inability to shoot straight, repeatedly missing her with hundreds of rounds of automatic weapons fire is another. But as I described in my opening, this is a film that diverts with pace and visuals. Any silliness won’t distract until you actually take the time to think about it.
Charlize Theron is a fine actress with considerable range. Here she’s appropriately repressed, limiting her emotional range. After all, in a society where surveillance can detect the improper thinking that can get one killed, it’s best to be somewhat impassive. She’s unexpectedly physical in this role; her athleticism and stunts make clear that she deserves a place in the pantheon of super-heroines that developed in earnest after Alien’s Ripley first made her way to the screen.
This film is moderately entertaining and has a clever payoff that is both intriguing and slightly nonsensical. But I was left with the impression that more could have been done with the source material if only the screenwriters had been a little more imaginative.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a typical Sony Pictures Home Entertainment transfer. The colors are stunning. The flesh tones are spot on. Shadow detail is great. There is a pretty good sense of finely grained textures and small object detail. Shadow detail is very good. I didn’t notice any macroblocking or mosquito noise. That’s the good news. Alas, the transfer has typical Sony edge halos on every high contrast transition. This disc is highly watchable, but I’m going to be very curious to compare this transfer to the Blu-ray Disc version we can expect to be released this summer.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is terrific. As the film opens, there is an iconic sequence based on the original animated series. A fly is involved. It seems to orbit the theater, its buzz smoothly panning from one speaker to the other. EX decoding perfectly enhances the fly’s audible flight path. This is merely a hint of things to come. The surrounds are quite active, placing both ambient and directional cues in all three surround channels. Deep bass is present that can be felt as well as heard. Dialog remains distortion-free throughout. And Graeme Revell’s raucous score is presented with punch and verve.
The alternate language is in French. An alternative English track is in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional subtitles are in Spanish and English, for which Closed Captions are also included.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The disc opens with that annoying but familiar slick anti-piracy promo (0:48) that, thankfully, may be skipped with the next chapter button. Next is a preprogrammed series of three trailers (5:36) for: Mission: Impossible III; a DVD box set of South Park; and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. These may be skipped as well.
The disc offers two feature-length commentaries. The first is by producer Gale Anne Hurd and Charlize Theron. They describe location shooting and the rigors of the physical work required for the film. Theron describes an injury that caused her to stand down and delay the production. Perhaps having few insights to offer, Hurd discusses the nature of the plot and describes character motivation. Theron, on the other hand, does share some anecdotes from the shoot.
The second commentary is by screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. What is significant is that the writers make clear that the film is a bit of a disappointment and they cast the blame on studio interference. They describe the politics working for a major studio. And it becomes very clear that the film we see on the screen is not the film they wrote, so perhaps my criticism of the writers was premature. Each track is informative in its way. Neither is compelling, but within each are little nuggets worth discovering.
Also on the disc is a generous selection of featurettes that address various aspects of the making of the film. These are well produced, minimize fluff, and offer insight into the production. First up is Creating A World: Aeon Flux (20:49). The filmmakers, Theron, and other principal actors participate. There is quite a bit of discussion about the difficulties of translating the somewhat avant-garde animated series into a feature film. Animator Peter Cheung is also interviewed and you’ll see a few excerpts from the animated series.
The Locations of Aeon Flux (14:47) reveals how and why the filmmakers selected the location they did. The short also demonstrates the differences between real buildings and their enhanced versions. I was fascinated by the odd and almost surreal locations that were used for the shoot. For example, I would never have guessed that one location was an animal shelter.
The Stunts of Aeon Flux (9:03) reveals that Charlize Theron did virtually all of her stunts and, as someone with a dancing background, was able to be extremely physical for the film. We watch her training and see her perform some of the gags, both with and without wirework. As you might expect, she received considerable martial arts training.
In The Costume Design Workshop of Aeon Flux (13:37), the costume designer explains her artistic approach to the film. The costumers went for elegance rather than the sexuality found on the animated series. The short gives many behind the scenes people well-earned exposure and credit.
The Craft of the Set Photographer on Aeon Flux (3:34) demonstrates the role of the stills photographer on set. Partially technical, partially artistic, partially descriptive of the purpose of the stills, this is a rather interesting little short.
The film’s theatrical trailer (2:15), like all the visual supplements on the disc, is presented in non- anamorphic video. And the last supplement is where we began. The three previews that open the disc are available from the Special Features menu.
The 92-minute film is organized into fourteen chapters.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
I have mixed feeling about this film. It’s an enjoyable enough experience, with fine visuals and a great audio track, but whether the fault lies with the screenwriters or with Paramount, the plot flaws can distract. The commentaries are merely so-so, but the featurettes add up to a nice, comprehensive look at the making of the film. The disc is worth considering; just allow yourself to be swept up by the stylish presentation and ignore the subtle flaws.
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