There is something particularly ghastly about a bad science fiction movie. It is a genre that needs the audience to buy into a vision of the future. When the audience can't swallow that vision, the whole house of cards falls on itself.
Such is the case with the spectacularly dreadful Aeon Flux, a movie that practically guarantees that it will be a long time before Hollywood again sinks this much money into a sci-fi effort starring a woman. Sigourney, where are you when we need you?
Oscar winner Charlize Theron stars as the title character in this effort, which I would dismiss as cartoonish, except that's exactly the point. The film is based on a series of 1995 MTV cartoon shorts by Peter Chung. This is the second bad sci-fi flick in 2005 to be based on the technology of cloning human beings. And believe me, The Island is suddenly looking a lot better. At least it had an intriguing premise, with a believable moral dilemma that was overwhelmed by the bombastic action mindset of Michael Bay.
Aeon Flux, on the other hand, goes for the cool sci-fi template. It's a world 400 years in the future that is emotionally remote, and, on the surface, beautifully devoid of the messiness of flawed human behavior. That's because the people have been trained to ignore when loved ones and neighbors keep disappearing. They just hope they won't be next.
Super assassin Aeon Flux, however, wants to do something about the secretive government that is effectively hiding its agenda. She is part of an organization, the Monicans, that wants to expose the lies and unmask the agenda involving the leader of this world, Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas).
Sounds like a good idea, but in execution it is massively uninspiring, boring and emotionally remote. Only Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), as a fellow assassin, provides a character with some juice and emotional flow. You believe she feels passion for her cause and loyalty to her friends.
Aeon Flux it is not the worst sci-fi film ever made - that title still belongs to John Travolta's Battlefield Earth. However, Aeon Flux is in the same universe.