Kevin's Watch

Don't know if this is a thread for the movies forum or here, but here goes.

I was a big fan of the Æon Flux animated series. Frankly it's one of the oddest things I've ever seen: hugely stylised, perverse, surreal and often confusing. I liked a lot about it though, including the character herself (kind of a psychotic killer but not entirely without principles, sometimes), her relationship with the enigmatic Trevor Goodchild and the setting itself.

When I heard they were making a movie out of it, I was immediately aware that this would be a very difficult project to adapt for film. My suspicions seemed to be confirmed when the advanced screenings were pulled and the critical reception was so unkind, but I thought I'd give it a chance and rented the DVD. Here's what I thought:

Good:
-It looked fantastic, from start to finish
-They took a lot of cool ideas from the series, applying a few of them in clever new ways, and some good ones they made up (the Monican 'pill' was good)
-I think Charlize Theron got Aeon's look, voice and movement down about as well as any flesh and blood human being could.
-The morality tale about the effect cloning might have on society was quite interesting
-The action sequences were strong and inventive

Bad:
-I think they basically missed the point of the series in many ways. The viewer knew very little of the big picture in the animation, so when things were spelled out in the movie it was just plain jarring.
-They played with the fundamentals of Aeon's character in a way that, IMO, didn't really work. In the series she was a Monican, but appeared to be working to her own agenda and deciding on her own missions. She might co-operate with other Monicans to that end, but it didn't feel right that she was taking orders.
-Aeon and Trevor's relationship: It was a twisted, irrational and illogical thing in the series and now they're just ex-husband and wife. Takes pretty much all of the mystery out of it.
-Csokas as Trevor: his character wasn't bad in itself, but his delivery lacked Trevor's wonderful phlegmatism and his complexity didn't really come across.
-The Monicans as a political group and not a country: it just didn't feel right. Bregna changed from being the ostensibly utopian, but manipulated neighbour to the post-apocalyptic but free Monica, to the manipulated last bastion of humanity. I think I just wasn't convinced that the Monicans could have become as big and organised as it had in that environment.
-From Brenn-YA and BrEEns to BreGG-na and BreGG-nans: Ugh. Just ugh.
-Aeon removing the bullets from Trevor: When this scene started, I thought we were going to see some of the perverse sexuality we saw in the series, with both Trevor and Aeon really enjoying the experience. I've a feeling that's what the screenwriters had in mind too, but the director and/or the actors failed them.

On the whole, it was okay, not that good but I've seen much worse. I've always been rather scornful of fans who complain about bits being changed in their favourite books/comics/cartoons, as such changes are often necessary for a coherent and not over-long transition to the big screen. I'm going to have to join them here though, because I just don't see how most of what was added benefitted the narrative. If they had just mashed up a couple of episodes of the cartoon and made a film out of it, I think a lot of people would've left the cinema saying "I have no idea what that was all about, but wasn't [this bit] cool?" which would have been an improvement I think.

If the project inspires MTV to comission Peter Chung for another season of Æon Flux, then I'd be delighted, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I never saw the movie, so I thank you very much for breaking it down in a way so that someone who is a fan of the series may be able to decide if it's worth it for them to see it.

I don't think I will. I love the series, for all the reasons you listed above about it; the style, the perverse-ness, the surreal-ness(?). When I was younger (I think I was in middle school when it was on mtv, and probably too young to be watching something of Flux's nature) I had a tv in my room and would turn it on late at night with the volume down almost all the way and I never missed an episode. For all those reasons it's a show that's really special to me. Even if the movie had been good I don't think that I want to imagine Æon as anything other than what I see her as now.

I would've been about the same age when I found the series. I think my parents had gone out and I flicked on to MTV to see a remarkably thin woman trying to stop an even thinner robot climbing inside her belly button. I made a mental note to record it from then on!

The dvd set of the cartoons is worth getting, it's a nice collection with some interesting featurettes. They've also tarted up the colours and redubbed some of the voice work they weren't happy with.

I've remembered something else I wasn't too keen on about the movie: the score. It wasn't distinctive at all and seemed really insensitive at times, almost as though the composer had recorded it all and then someone else inserted the bits into the movie. Such a shame, as the score for the series was so perfect.

I've actually read that Peter Chung has called the film "a travesty" and that watching it made him feel "helpless, humiliated and sad". The movie dvd extras have some shots of Chung visiting the set and he doesn't look at all happy even then.

Apparently he is working on new straight-to-dvd episodes of Aeon Flux though, so it's not all bad.

Cool-didn't Aeon Flux appear in Heavy Metal magazine once or twice?

Not as far as I know, but I think it's fair to say that the artwork has been influenced by Heavy Metal. It certainly wouldn't have looked out of place in there.