Aeon Flux (2005) 4K UHD Review

Part of an unfortunate trend in the early 2000s, Aeon Flux joins the similarly messy Elektra, Ultraviolet, and Catwoman in women-led sci-fi/comic book action movies. All of them were tragic misfires.

Aeon Flux is an immensely memorable property, born in the early 1990s, making this live action adaptation properly timed, inducing nostalgia for the original MTV animated series while making use of expanded movie making tech. The “cool” of Aeon Flux was certainly about its futurism and sci-fi, but the attractiveness of its wild, energetic, and sightly animation is what drew the eye initially.

Aeon Flux deserved better

What went unconsidered in this live action adaptation is how absurd this looks when performed by real people. Editing often tries to make sense of what’s happening, but the jittery cuts extinguish any sense of flow, and with it, the visual logic. Where the action fails, so too do the dialog scenes, haphazardly tossed together with expository flashbacks interjecting into the current scene, or even overlapping to ensure the pace is speedy.

This leads to dismal world building, beginning with text and rushing through the lives of those inside a contained dome after the human population was nearly wiped out by a virus. Distinctly 2000s-era genetic allegories do nothing to enhance Aeon Flux, and the villains’ belief in domination over nature is discarded as quickly as it’s introduced.

Coming back to movies like this, with the hope that maybe time and distance have changed the perception, does lead to surprises. This isn’t one of them. It’s designed with men in mind rather than being empowering, casting Charlize Theron and placing her in tights for that purpose. The exaggerated animated flair gave the source material infinitely more fiery power than this. Aeon Flux deserved better.

Dense imagery is driven by the incredible black levels. They’re hearty and rich, consistently pushing pure black into the frame for marvelous shadows. A slight jump in contrast courtesy of a Dolby Vision pass offers some intensity to brightness, although it’s not particularly aggressive.

The thin grain structure looks great overlaid onto sharp, high-resolution imagery. Fidelity is marvelous. Aside from lower resolution digital effects, sharpness maintains a consistent high point. Texture thrives in these conditions, the facial definition precise and resolved.

The color palette offers a wide array of aesthetics, but plenty of lush greenery and stellar flesh tones. Primaries glow at their peaks (Handler’s flowing red hair especially, literally and figuratively), and it’s overall attractive and flawless imagery.

Porting the DTS-HD mix from the Blu-ray, Aeon Flux has significant low-end support. The techno soundtrack drives much of it, but the action doesn’t miss any opportunities either. Explosions have tremendous potency.

Surrounds capture the ambiance of the city and voices often travel away from the center with flawless positioning. On a subway, PA systems break from the fronts and branch outward. Oddly, the action doesn’t do the same. Gunfire sounds stuck in front channels with little separation into the rears.

Paramount includes their original Blu-ray extras in the package – and only on the Blu-ray. That includes two commentaries, one with Charlize Theron and producer Gale Anne Hurd. Co-screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi pick up on the second. A few featurettes (on costume design, stunts, locations, and set photography) provide mild insight.

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 39 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: