Aeon Flux (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

I like the movie a lot, the special effects are excellent, and Charlice Theron looks beautiful as always. 100% recommended

Aeon Flux is the 2005 film based on the early 90s animated shorts and late 90s half hour eps;and quite ride it is.I highly recommend the Aeon Flux animated collection also available,but do not try to compare the two.The movie(like any anime'to film property)is a palatable(dressed down)version of the animated series,with the action in the animated series much richer and heavier in content than its' movie counterpart.But that doesn't mean there's not alot to recommend here.
The story is set in the year 2011 and the walled-in city Bregna,is host to earths' last surviving population.A plague 400 years ago left the survivors sterile and the Goodchild Research Foundation now runs the city with an iron hand.It is in turn run by its' name sake brothers Trevor(Marton Csokas,Borias from Xena) and Oren(John Miller).
But something strange is happening to many of the citys' citizens.Besides a myriad of daily disappearances,many of its' citizens who meet perfect strangers have inexplicable remnant memories of them;some good,some bad.
Our heroine Aeon Flux(Charlize Theron)is part of a rebel group called The Monacans who are fighting to end the Goodchild regime,by any means.Monacans are genetically and drug enhanced humans with superior strength and speed.They also can contact one another and/or their leader "The Handler"(Frances McDormand) psychically.Aeon is first given the job of sabotaging the security system which she accomplishes with little problem.On her way to meet her sister she sees her being carried out dead on a stretcher.Aeon wants and gets her revenge as her next assignment is to kill Trevor Goodchild.Making her way through many extremely difficult defences she manages to penetrate the Citadel where she finds Trevor rehearsing a speech.As she approaches him he turns,recognizes her and says the name of "Catherine".She also vaguely recognizes something in him but it is too late and her hesitation causes her to be caught.Not for long as she escapes and returns to meet with Trevor.They make love and after a brief sleep Aeon wakes up and chokes Trevor to near death.She leaves and realizes that her answer may lay in an object that circles the city in the sky called the"Relico".It is a flying ship supposedly built to remind the inhabitants of their sacrifices but she thinks there is more to it.She gets aboard and finds out the whereabouts of her sister and leaves.Trevor who has followed behind now knows what she was after and finds out even more information he didn't know of.He meets Aeon at the location of her sister to find that the sister is now a baby.Trevor reveals that she has been cloned;in fact everyone has been cloned over the past 400 years.He also says the real reason her sister was killed was that she was pregnant,naturally.Nature has found a cure on its own for the sterile plagued society and Trevors'brother Oren wants to keep the information from getting out,thus all the kidnappings,disappearances and deaths.Oren has also condemned Trevor to death as a traitor for sleeping with Aeon and both are now wanted fugitives.Aeon herself has also been handed a death sentence seperately by her own Monacan organization for not carrying out her mission.After a bloodied battle with Oren's forces who fight not only Trevor and Aeon but other Monacan snipers,the two barely escape with their lives.Aeon again climbs aboard the "Relico" and blows the ship up,sending it crashing into a section of city wall and exposing the outside forested world to the startled inhabitants.The citizens now free of the Goodchild oppression can now start to live their lives anew.
The film is filled with spectacular stunts and CGI effects throughout and some sequences are amazing to watch.One especially delightful sequence is with a friend,the hand-footed Zathandra,as they attempt to cross the rolling grassy landscape towards the Citadel.With incredible jumps by the pair punctuated by deadly gourds with shooting syringes of poison and the grass,which becomes seemingly alive when a human presence is detected-going from blades of grass to razor sharp blades of steel.
It is certainly both an aural and visual feast to be sure.But the plot keeps you intrigued and interested,I found,throughout the picture with very few let ups.And more importantly this film is one you can watch over and over and still find something just a little different each time.
The picture here is top notch,crisp and clear all the way and with that wonderful sound available in D/Surround 5.1 or 2.0.
The special features abound:Commentary by Theron and producer Gale Hurd or by co-writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi,"Creating a World:Aeon Flux"(20 m),"Location of AF"(15m),"Stunts of AF"(9m),"Costume Design Workshop of AF"(13m),"Craft of the set Photographer"(3m) and trailers.
All in all this DVD is a worthy addition to anyone's movie library.It's a very engaging Sci-Fi concept brought to the big screen via its' animated roots and one you can watch again and again.

I had a life.

Now all I have is a mission

The year is 2415; it has been seven generations since the industrial plague whipped out 99% of the people. The few remaining survivors are all huddled into one city with walls protecting them from what ever is outside. It is an ideal city of Bregna ran by Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) and a council. And as with any such city there will always be rebels that thinks something is wrong with lack of freedom and mysterious disappearances. Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) belongs to such an organization. Her mission as the most ept agent is to dispatch the so called benevolent ruler. Can she do this or will circumstances and chance encounters change the situation?

The film does not boast of any thing really extraordinary except maybe an exceptionally rich architectural back drop. Shot mostly in Berlin we see many popular places that for some reason they though would not be that familiar to the audience. Evidently they must not know how popular Berlin is, especially key locations. The original location on their wish list was Brasilia because of its 1050's futuristic look; however that proved to be economically unfeasible. See if you recognize Sans Souci, Potsdam built in 1745 by Frederick the Great, one of the world best know orangeries.

Although this movie had nothing extraordinary it is a perfect example of the genre and will hold your attention as you anticipate where they are going with the story. Only someone that anticipates that it will stick to the animated series may be disappointed.

The DVD rendering adds some background commentaries that make rewatching the film more enjoyable.