Highly Overrated But Still Good

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Picked up the DVD series at the library, because I heard about it being a 90's cult series. Watched a few episodes, didn't like it, couldn't get myself to watch more of it. I feel this series sacrifices substance for style. Once you get beyond the pseudo-intellectual quotes, the strange futuristic setting and the obvious sexual tension, you are left with an incoherent mess. Perhaps it's just not my thing and I'm being too harsh, but be warned: this is not for everyone.Maybe back in the day Aeon Flux was groundbreaking for what it did. This was made during the pre-mainstream era of MTV, when they were still willing and able to do things outside of the box. I'm all for that, but that doesn't mean the results will automatically be good.

I'll spare you the standard review and assume that you've already accepted that Aeon Flux is bloody awesome. What follows is a guide to getting the full bloody awesomeness out of this experience.If at all possible, take it in chronological order since the first 6 shorts are what set the stage. Essentially all rules are bent, broken, defecated upon and then handed back to us with a hint of Snuggle fabric softener. This is no mere cartoon; this is a revolution in storytelling.The best way to describe the shorts is to say they are visual puzzles for us to solve. It ain't easy, either. I highly recommend watching the short, feeling like an idiot, and then watching it again with Peter's commentary. He doesn't always spell out the solution, but he gives some good hints that allow you to appreciate it on its intended philosophical level.I'll give you just one example without really ruining anything. In the episode "War", we see a bunch of people killing people, getting killed, and more of the same. But there's much more to it than that. What Chung does is play on our fickle sympathies to make us change loyalties over & over. Without noticing, we start out rooting for the black team, then the white team, back to black, white, black, etc. You can surmise what sort of statement he's making about the act of war & society's attitudes. I can't help but wonder if Peter Chung was a fan of the 19th century French writer Maupassant ("Tell the people to vote for the Emperor and they'll vote for the Emperor. Tell the people to vote for the Republic and they'll vote for the Republic.")Bloody awesome.Other episodes are more abstract but just as deliberate & defined. In "Tide" we're presented with some seemingly arbitrary, repeating scenes. But actually it's a very carefully orchestrated show. The scenes, each exactly 2 sec long, repeat in a scripted sequence that can only be described as mathematical (or as Peter says in the commentary, "musical").Bloody bloody awesome.OK, I'm probably losing some of you, and that's to be expected. After all, what's interesting about political, mathematical & metaphysical themes? The answer: a hot assassin chick in a vinyl bikini with boobs that defy Newton's Laws of Physics, that's what.What's the word I'm looking for? Oh right: bloody freaking whacktastic awesome.After the initial 6 shorts comes the Pilot which is also without dialogue and highly expressionistic as well as philosophically jam packed. However when the actual series followed, MTV took more of an active role making changes that weren't always for the best. The biggest change is that the characters speak. Another big change is that Aeon develops more of a consistent personality and morality (unlike in the shorts where she was an Existentialist to the max). Some of the episodes are still very good--the ones written by Peter Chung--but others were given to different writers who didn't have a clear grasp on the artistic concept. The result was more plot driven, linear, humorous at times & random at times. At the same time, some of it became more poetic in a literal sense. In all, a very different flavour but still very enjoyable, even if the episodes aren't the brain-teasers we had seen at first.That's about all I have to say, so I'll close by saying we need more women dressing up as Aeon Flux at halloween parties. Ladies, if you do that you win hands down. Well except for maybe the green star trek chick.

First of all, I love the Aeon Flux movie. Second of all, I love anime and cartoons in general (although this cartoon is clearly American and is not an Anime).The Aeon Flux TV series has all the right elements for an adult cartoon: the characters look good and in general all the artwork looks very good, lots of shocking and bizarre images, and some very interesting stories.However, it just doesn't flow very well, and doesn't really make much sense. I hesitate to compare it to an anime, because it isn't. But anime is a little bit 'prettier', and I've never seen an anime that doesn't make sense. I think of the Aeon Flux TV series as a Disney series... on both steroids and cocaine. If nothing else, it is very creative.

Aeon Flux was/is one groundbreaking show that crushed every cliché inside and outside the genre. It is surrealistic, very abstract, and to tell the truth not something for everyone to enjoy. But if you are fan of innovative animation or Japanese anime then you will most likely love this as much as I do (if you can at least enjoy Peter Chung's style).The short-episodes also made a huge impression on me. Without dialog the episodes still contained a very solid story (if you can manage to get it at least, which can even take more then one view), and a very sci-fi and abstract approach. Of course, if you don't want to dissect the storyline you could always enjoy the truly fine action-scenes Aeon Flux is full of! Some episodes can even get slightly 'trippy', but it never gets too much to the point that you feel you'r watching random scenes or something.I really hope that Peter Chung makes a return with this show, since the name 'Aeon Flux' still needs to be cleansed because of that awful self-titled movie. Highly recommended for fans of avantgarde animation!