Aeon Flux: Uneventful Horizon

Charlize Theron as "Aeon Flux." Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures


“Aeon Flux,” the MTV series created by Korean designer Peter Chung, was among the wave of science fiction animé that exploded in the 1990s when the west discovered what Asian fans knew for decades — that virtually every fantastical, and even twisted, idea imaginable could find a visual outlet without having to deal with human actors.

One of the main issues with this type of animation is that “Aeon Flux,” and many like it, has attempted to cancel out criticism regarding blatant sexism and misogyny by glorifying a heroine who is stronger, faster and smarter than anyone else — all while wearing next to nothing and acting like, well, a man, when it comes to amoral behavior.

The film version directed by Karyn Kusama, who made waves with “Girlfight” in 2000, smoothes out the sharp edges of Chung’s illustration style (said to resemble a mix of Abstract Expressionist painter Egon Schiele and graphic novel illustrator Jean “Mobius” Giraud) by tossing out the skimpy costumes and opting for a sleek ultra designer look, not only for the still-sexy lead character played by Charlize Theron, but for the whole futuristic universe of the walled-in city-state called Bregna.

“Aeon Flux” is a gorgeous palette of colors and textures, sweeping lines and elegant curvilinear grace notes which suggest that whatever may be wrong in this vision of the future, they still have some really fine architects, technicians and fashion designers working somewhere. But, that’s all it has going for it.

If you buy the whole premise, the only way that such a city could exist is if every nastily human distraction was eliminated, including having renewable resources and factories to create each tool, artifact and disposable item they use, along with scores of workers and a hierarchy of administration that would make Bill Gates’ head spin. I suppose there are arguments that in a future like this, everything has been miniaturized, nanotech engineered and biointegrated to the point that such systems become as outmoded as an 8-track tape player, but why then couldn’t the story have been updated as well?

Here’s the thing: In 2011, a virulent plague has wiped out 99 percent of the human population. The survivors led by a biological researcher named Trevor Goodchild (Marton Czokas) gather together and create the ultimate gated community while Goodchild works on a cure for the virus. Generations later, actually 400 years down the line, the utopian city-state of Bregna has been formed, still led by Goodchild’s direct descendants, who have continued the research. By now, the city is walled off from the rest of the world, which presumably has gone wild.

Things aren’t going well for the people of Bregna, though. Many are experiencing disturbing dreams. Not only that, but dissenters have begun disappearing and even been killed by government agents for belonging to the underground Monican rebellion. Fans of the original series have an idea of what the rebellion is about, but Kusama chalks it up to a plain old revolt against the Goodchild tyranny.

Aeon Flux (Theron), the Monican’s best martial arts-trained secret agent, is motivated by the death of her sister to act with extreme prejudice when the Monican’s leader, The Handler (Frances McDormand), orders her to assassinate Goodchild. But, as Aeon gets closer to Goodchild, she discovers there is a huge lie at the heart of their entire existence.

Gigantic holes in the story and contrivances based wholly on the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief may work for a comic book or deliberately obscure animé, but for a big budget studio movie that relies on a basic plot, even if it is heavily designed to look edgy and futuristic, “Aeon Flux” disintegrates on impact.

There is a virtually limitless universe of literary science fiction to choose from, and yet filmmakers (or the studio suits to whom they answer) continue to be stuck in a shopworn comfort zone of been-there-done-that plots and storylines. And even when they find something new and interesting, they fall back on methods which pare down and hack away at its originality so audiences won’t be challenged by anything more difficult to comprehend than whether its preferable to go into battle with a lightsaber or a blaster.

In a genre that should constantly be in flux, this movies shows that, right now, it’s nothing but a dull, featureless horizon.