Ӕonflux (movie)

Q. When is a spin-off not a spin-off?

A. When the original never tied-into itself anyway.

On the face of it, the live-action movie Ӕonflux is a ridiculous insult to the MTV cartoon series that inspired it. It ignores its source material's premise, characters and world, and dumbs the whole thing down into regulation Hollywood fluff. Even original series creator Peter Chung conceded that it was "a travesty", pointing out that that the lead character "…only thinks she is Aeon. Ms. Flux does not actually appear in the movie."

I have to admit, he's got a strong argument there.

And yet, I can't criticise a movie adaptation for changing so many elements - even to the point of respelling its own name into just one word - when its forerunner was so cavalier with these properties itself. Just how many episodes of the TV show featured Aeon dying?

This film may bare little resemblance to its predecessor, but that is ironically what makes it consistent.

I have a much bigger problem with its central premise that a person can live forever by making a clone of themselves. When that person dies, it's their copy that lives on, not them.

While this film does score points with me for being the easiest entry in the Ӕon archive to follow, its real triumph is in the casting. Both Charlize Theron and Marton Csokas look and sound very close to the original Aeon and Trevor respectively, making the transition across mediums an easier one than usual.

In such an exploratory world of ideas and concepts, this is one Hollywood abomination that accidentally works.

With thanks to Herschel.

Available here.