Aeon Flux
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and sexual content.
reviewed by Christopher Lyon
In a near-perfect future, something is terribly wrong. Underneath a beautiful exterior, the government is hiding a devastating secret. Does that scenario sound familiar? Then so will “Aeon Flux,” which leaves the impression that somehow we’ve seen all this before.
The Story
Here’s the set-up: Back in 2011, a killer virus wiped out 99 percent of humanity before a cure was found. Now 400 years in the future, all of human civilization lives in Bregna, a walled city that appears on the surface to be some kind of utopia. Except everybody knows there’s something wrong. People occasionally disappear at random. And most of Bregna’s citizens feel sad and disconnected, “remembering” things that haven’t happened to them.
The city has been run by the Goodchild family for generations, but a group of resistance fighters has sprung up to challenge their government. Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is the best of these “Monicans,” and she’s just been assigned the job of assassinating Trevor Goodchild, the city’s leader. Since her sister was killed by Goodchild’s police force, Aeon can’t wait to take out Trevor. But when the moment of truth comes, something stops her. Discovering the city’s secret will change everything she thought to be true about herself and the world around her.
The Verdict
“Flux” is based on Peter Chung’s animated series that first ran on MTV in the early 90s. It featured an athletic, acrobatic female assassin clad in revealing black leather who efficiently carried out her grim duties with a dark wit while trying to figure out what was going on in her world. Creating a full film version of the story required director Karyn Kusama to fill in the details of Aeon’s world and come up with a more complete story to tell.
It’s not that the framework of the story is so awful, it’s just that it’s so familiar and delivered so matter-of-factly that I never wondered what was coming next. If the characters had been given more depth and the story made less obvious, I might have been drawn in. Instead, the movie is an almost instantly forgettable collection of scenes.
Some things work. Aeon and the Monicans uses some cool/gross technology to communicate and carry out their missions. They swallow pills that somehow connect them to each other on a telepathic level. In a neat trick, Aeon uses a collection of obedient metal balls to get her out of a jam. Aeon and her colleagues mod their bods to become more efficient fighters, including a character who has replaced her feet with hands. The government computers seem to run on water, revealing images in little pools. Cool sci-fi stuff.
Theron is adequate as Flux, and LOTR’s Marton Csokas is sympathetic as Trevor. Some of the action scenes and fight stuntwork are well-done, but a lot of Aeon’s acrobatic stuff comes off a little lame. In the end, “Flux” just isn’t a satisfying movie experience.
The film lands it’s PG-13 rating with a high body count, action violence that includes some blood, and Aeon’s odd and revealing wardrobe, including a few shots that could be described as “partial nudity.”
Worldview
“Flux” dabbles in the big issues of freewill and predestination. Can a society be a real utopia without freedom? Can humans enjoy near-perfect circumstances without open and honest leadership? Aeon and the Monicans say “no.” They’re fighting for freedom and truthfulness, even if it means losing their high standard of living. Setting your own course matters more than having a protected and luxurious life.
All humans long to be free, and most of us agree that political freedom is worth fighting for. But we sometimes disagree about what real personal freedom is. For Christians, the Bible teaches that humans lack freedom no matter what kind of society we live in. Given the choice, we’ll always choose to serve ourselves above everything else. The Bible describes this selfishness we’re born into as “slavery to sin.” From that perspective, even those of us who are politically free are slaves to our own sinful desires.
That’s why Christians believe we need a Savior, someone to break us out of our chains of narrow-minded selfishness and free us to see life as it really is. For us, freedoms means finally gaining the ability through Christ to say no ourselves and yes to the truth of God’s perspective. We become free to go in the right direction and serve the one who unbound us. To dig into this take on real human freedom, check out Romans 6 and Galatians 5.
Discussion Questions
• Have you seen any of the animated series “Aeon Flux” is based on? How did the filmmakers do at capturing that world?
• Are you a fan of sci-fi movies? If so, did you like “Flux”?
• What was your favorite technology or gadget in the film?
• How would you define human freedom? Left to ourselves, where will we end up if we remain truly “self-determined”?
• How can a person be free and a servant at the same time? What does it mean to be a “slave of righteousness”? (Check out Romans 6.)
Let us know what you thought of this review!
