Æon Flux
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: December 2, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
12
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jason Anderson
It's all so geekily gorgeous, it hardly matters that the narrative lapses in and out of incoherence and the dialogue is functional at best. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The ideas underlying Aeon Flux's plot are the film's strength, and the filmmakers deserve some credit for doing more than paying lip service to them. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Aeon Flux is not that terrible. It's certainly more fun than a lot of films that get lovingly showcased. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The futuristic thriller is overly familiar and never especially gripping -- and too somber and cerebral for the young action crowd -- but it looks terrific and is in no way an embarrassment. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
With the exception of a few enjoyable action scenes, such as when Aeon and fellow operative Sithandra (Sophie Okonedo) flip and backflip their way across a lethal garden of bullet-spewing trees and spikes disguised as blades of grass, Aeon Flux is surprisingly draggy. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Theron is an arresting image, but, like everything else in Aeon Flux, she's stranded in a trashy and derivative glum zone of fashion-runway fascism. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
The plot frequently resets/realigns itself in the fashion of "Lost" or "Alias," as good guys become bad guys, friends become enemies, and combatants become lovers. To portray confusion and uncertainty is one thing; to make a film this unsure of itself, wracked by its own faulty footing and reticence, is quite another. Read full review
50
PremiereRyan Devlin
What made Aeon Flux compelling and special as an animated series had everything to do with the medium and the freedom Chung was given to shape the story as he pleased. Take away those elements, and Aeon Flux becomes nothing more than middling science fiction, which is unfortunately what the film is. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Kusama offers moments of inspiration, but it frustrates like hell that she couldn't nail it completely. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
By forcing definition on Flux, the filmmakers rob her of any allure. What do they offer instead? Clumsy exposition, bland PG-13 gunfights and subpar computer animation. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
It's a movie best appreciated for the costumes, the sets and Ms. Theron's haughty athleticism. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin Chang
The future looks alternately grim and hysterical in Aeon Flux, a spectacularly silly sci-fier that plays like "The Matrix" crossed with "The Island" and reinterpreted as a long-lost Michael Jackson video. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While its heart is in the right place, Aeon Flux's head is just a little too high to make much sense. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Gone are Chung's willfully irrational non sequitur surrealisms, vertiginous designs, dry humor, and physiological weirdness; now we have Charlize Theron trying to look icy, leaping about in resistance to a future dystopia that looks a lot like an overlandscaped European Union industrial park. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This live-action cartoon tries to walk the line between pleasing the faithful and appealing to a broad-based action audience. It fails on both fronts: It's too lifeless and watered-down to stand on its own high heels, but commits the cardinal sin of messing with the original. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The wordless six-minute animé shorts - at the end of which our double-jointed heroine would always die - don't lend themselves to a 95-minute action movie where viewers might rightfully expect something to make sense. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Smultaneously silly, ostentatious and terribly boring. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Aeon Flux is the sophomore picture from Karyn Kusama, who's first movie was a modest boxing film called "Girlfight." Here she's in over her head. The movie's sexual and scientific ideas never come through, and the characters would be fun only if they came with a joystick. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's hard to sit all the way through Aeon Flux while fully awake. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesJohn Anderson
If Aeon Flux is what Charlize Theron does to pay the bills while otherwise being engaged in "Monster" and "North Country," it's probably a reasonable price to pay. For her. For us? No, no, no. Read full review
20
EmpireKim Newman
Depressing and trivial. Read full review
10
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Every rumor you’ve heard about this film is true; it’s an absolute wreck. Read full review
0
New York PostLou Lumenick
Aeon Flux is by far the year's worst movie, a most dubious achievement. Read full review
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