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Date Posted: 12:43:08 12/04/05 Sun
Author: Evil Clone
Subject: An Unusual Time Was Had By All --- * Vague Spoilers for Aeon Flux *

I did something last night that I rarely ever do-- I went to see a new movie on its opening weekend.

Why rarely? There are several reasons, but the primary ones are that I dislike crowds, and besides which matinees are usually a few bucks cheaper, which is important because you might end up sitting through annoying and uncalled-for commercials even if you pay the full evening ticket price.

Now I may be frugal, but I’m not cheap. If there is a movie I really want to see, and I knew it was only going to be playing in the evening, I’d pony up and be right damn happy about it. What made this particular film different is that it was one that I wasn’t even sure that I was going to like, and yet there I was, Saturday at 10:20 (less crowds than at 8:00 PM) settling into my seat as the previews rolled by.

The theater was roughly half-filled, with most of the other attendees being in the 17-24 year old range. I wondered how many of them had read any of the reviews that were just beginning to appear in the print and e-media, and if so, were they about to be doing their viewing on a dare, or just for the hell of it? Because the advance word was anything but good. As of Saturday afternoon, the official Tomatometer rating was hoving around 13%, a truly abysmal figure.

This review isn’t one of OnM’s Classic Movie outings, so there isn’t going to be a lengthy philosophical and/or somewhat self-indulgent ramble happening here. I’m not going to hold off on revealing the movie’s title for two or three pages in. In fact, before I go any further, I want to state that while I’m going to studiously avoid any but the vaguest spoiler issues, I will need to allude to some material in order to discuss my feelings about it. So, if you want a truly virgin viewing experience, stop right here and--

Go see Aeon Flux. Go see it as soon as possible.

Is this a great film? No, it isn’t. The critical press at large has big issues with many aspects of this movie, the sophomore effort from director Karyn Kusama, whose first feature film was the well-crafted and involving indie production Girlfight, a story of a young woman who longs to become a boxer, and her difficult path to achieving that goal.

In a recent LJ entry branching from an Aeon Flux mention, I had expressed some concerns to another blogger that taking on a film involving such extensive production values was more than a still-novice filmmaker might be up to. It turns out that I might have been right, but I still prefer to take a charitable approach by pointing out that while there are a number of things the movie does not do well, it also does quite a lot of things in a genuinely innovative fashion, and in my opinion critics who can’t see beyond the occasional ineptitude to the well-intentioned core of things are simply being vindictive for no good reason.

Why vindictive? Because all of the reviews that I read that I considered to be reasonably fair stuck the kind of balance I have proposed above. They have pointed out, for example, that the film is visually stunning for the bulk of its run time, or that the costume design work was exemplary if at times bizarre. They pointed out with some degree of admiration that lead actress Charlize Theron spent five arduous months of near-daily gymnastics training so as to be able to do most of her own stunt work, or that she tried to bring some life to her character emotionally despite a depressingly lame screenplay that had to have made such work a chore.

They pointed out that there were some interesting social and moral issues brought up, even if once again the writing work sabotaged much of the impact of those issues. They pointed out that if one were to use the orginal MTV animated series as a verbatim storyboard, the whole movie would never have happened, and if it did, it could even be worse than Doom.

So, in the continuing spirit of the “half-full” crowd, I’d like to add the following weentsy rebukes:


1. The studio refused to allow preview showings for critics. This is a sure sign of a turkey, a big no-confidence vote by the suits.

I agree that most of the time this is true. But on the other hand, the WB canceled Angel and left Charmed on the air. There may be a personal axe to grind somewhere that we don’t know about, and the lack of studio support may reflect accordingly. You don’t have to look too hard this year or any other to find absolutely excreable flicks that the particular studio still supported and marketed vigorously. They already put quite a lot of bucks into Flux-- why not give the film a decent shot?

2. Theron looks great, but that’s all. It’s her worst acting job ever.

Poo. You aren’t paying attention. An actor of lesser skills would have really bombed considering the mediocrity of the screenplay. She pulls it out as best as possible, and while it certainly isn’t like Monster or even Two Days in the Valley, her work is perfectly respectable here.

3. The cast (Theron included) recites all dialog in a flat, uninvolving monotone. Boorringgg!

This is a judgement call. I strongly suspect that this was deliberate, in an attempt to metaphorically relate that something is wrong in this future society where a substantial part of the population regards their life as “perfect”. Pay close attention and you will notice that Theron starts out this way but gradually adopts a more emotional and conventionally human inflection to her speech as the film progresses. Marton Csokas (as the society’s leader, Trevor Goodchild) doesn’t speak in a “monotone”, he’s just quiet and world-weary, which again makes sense once you find out what is really happening later on. The Monicans (the opposition/resistance group) speak this way because because they aren’t what they appear to be at first either.

4. The art direction has no direction. It’s like a series of scenes pasted together without a central plan of organization or a common theme. Some of it is cool (albeit a Blade Runner ripoff) and other stuff is pedestrian.

No, it isn’t. There is a plan. One may need to see the film a second time to start to appreciate it, but it’s there. There is supposed to be a disjointed aspect. Yes, it’s ham-handed at times, but remember-- this is only the director’s second film, and she’s never done anything like this genre before. And no, it isn’t a Blade Runner ripoff. Homages, yes, but not just to BR. The overall visual style in this movie is both delightful and VERY original, and isn’t a rip-off of anything. Of all the complaints tendered for AF, this one probably aggrieves me the most.

5. Pete Postlethwaite looks like a big cheese puff and/or like he’s wearing a body-sized condom. Also, in general, the citizens of Bregna don’t seem to dress in any consistant manner-- there are all these conflicting styles and fashion accoutrements.

Poo redux. Some people have no imagination, or perhaps don’t recall Barbarella. Interestingly, I noticed several references to “Blade Runner and David Lynch’s Dune films, but not one that I recall regarding Barbarella or even some of the campier Star Trek TOS episodes. Costume designer Beatrix Aruna Pasztor deserves an Oscar nod for her work here, which I believe one other reviewer did sincerely suggest. Besides, thanks to several very adept BtVS fashion reviewers here at ATPo, I’ve learned some modest skills in discerning clothing and fashion as metaphor in art.

(I especially loved the colored parasols that appear occasionally among the throngs of people. After you’ve seen the entire film, think about them for a bit.)

(BTW, Honorificus-- please see this film and get back to me soon, OK?)

6. Frances McDormand has this really weird hairdo and she’s all glowy all the time. Yeeeeeee!

I think this was a genuine mis-step, although I suspect that when you take into account the setting where “The Handler” appears, and how the Monicans appear (costume and demeanor-wise) when before her, there was an ironic religious subtext intended that the writers were incompetent to realize on paper, and the director mistakenly followed what they wrote. I would have done it differently, while trying for the same intent, but no one asked me. (~shrugs~) I can’t comment further without introducing a serious spoiler, so I won’t.

7. OK, it does have some good stuff in it, but don’t waste your money-- rent the DVD when it comes out.

Don’t wait, go see it in the theater, and see it soon before it quickly drops out of the bigger venues and into the tiny parts of your local 16-screen multiplex. The visuals are one of the best aspects of the film, and need to be seen on a large screen and preferably accompanied with a good sound system. Besides, you can seek some measure of revenge on the studio for not supporting Kusama and Theron and everyone else who at least tried to turn in a decent day’s work on this piece. This is the whole big reason I spent $8.50 to go see it on the weekend of its release, despite reading all the negative reviews.

8. Sorry, but it’s the worst film of the year.

No, I’m sorry. While Aeon Flux isn’t a triumph, or even extremely good, it’s still better and more entertaining then any of the Star Wars prequels. So there.

Now go get Fluxed, ya’all.

-- EC

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