Charlize Theron went out of her way to look b utt ugly in her last two hits Monstar and North Country. So it’s nice to see the actress looking her stunning self as she kicks as s in stylish sci-fi action flick Aeon Flux. The Amazonian wonder slips her toned derriere into the kind of outfits which will make girls weep-and boys hastily cross their legs. So let’s hope the prospect of Charlize Theron looking foxy with her sleek black bob is enough to put bums on seats, because this is certainly no science-fiction classic. In fact, the plot’s about as thin as her skintight outfits. It’s 2415 and a deadly virus leaves just one per cent of the population alive, imprisoned in a walled city under the oppressive leadership of the Goodchild family.
Charlize is Aeon Flux, the top assassin of the Monican rebel army whose aim is to defeat the regime-a task she takes to with gusto after they kill her only sister. Trainspotting’s Jonny Lee Miller is an incredibly unconvincing baddie hellbent on taking over what’s left of the world. Lycra lives on in this vision of the future and everyone has bad geometric haircuts and lives in tower blocks-a bit like Peckham then. The problem is this movie doesn’t create a future world that is all convincing. It’s all hastily explained in a series of dull voice-overs and not even Oscar-winner Charlize Theron’s skills can hide the clunking dialogue. ’’You killed my family, so I came here to kill yours, ’’ the poor mite is forced to deliver without a grimace.
Throw in some sci-fi stalwarts such as a secret cloning plot, a megalomaniac younger brother and weird pills that give you an out-of-body experience and the future is totally predictable. Admittedly, the landscape makes for some nice shots-especially whn the gun-toting Aeon breaks into the Goodchilds’ concrete compound. Charlize does the business physically, somersaulting out of the way of bulletsand felling storm troopers with high kicks. Pete Postlethwaite, Sophie Okonedo and Frances McDormand all compete for our attention. But sadly, despite this impressive ensemble, Aeon Flux doesn’t have enough tension to even raise the pulse a fraction. Quite how Charlize managed to make such a wrong turn from the Oscar ceremony to this B-list futuristic nightmare, God only knows.