‘Humiliated and Sad’: This sci-fi film with Charlize Theron upset the creator of the original work

The Hollywood adaptation of Æon Flux, released in the United States in December 2005, caused a real controversy among fans of the animated series and even more so among its creator. Bearing little resemblance to the original work or the Liquid TV shorts, it was widely panned. Moreover, none of the people involved in the creation of the series played a role in the making of the film.

While it includes many characters, themes, gadgets, and specific scenes from the original show, Karine Kusama’s film, starring Charlize Theron, takes a number of major liberties with the series’ character and concept — liberties that greatly displease its creator and even fans. He called it a “parody”. After all, Æon Flux, created by Peter Chung for MTV, is a sci-fi that changed animation design in the 90s, and expectations were high.

Let us remind you that the film, like the previous series, takes us to the apocalyptic 25th century, where the disease has destroyed almost the entire world population, except for the fortified city of Bregna, which is ruled by a council of scientists. A group of subterranean rebels, the Monicals, led by The Handler, send their best element, Æon Flux, to assassinate one of the power’s top leaders.

Although for many it was an introduction to the series, the feature film was a critical and box office disappointment and is now considered only a minor footnote in the franchise’s history.

A humbled creator

In 2006, the creator of Saga, Peter ChungEven in an interview given to LiveJournal, he expressed his great disappointment with this version and the lack of commitment to his work. Among the many questions he was asked: What did he really think of the film?

“When I read the script four years ago, I was unhappy; Seeing its large-scale projection in a crowded cinema made me feel helpless, humiliated and sad. I know it’s pointless to publicly express my displeasure, but it would be absurd for me, of all people, to continue to feign ignorance.“

For the creator, his hero was no longer the same, and the film acted more on visual effects than on the aesthetic and narrative depth of the story. And while its original story had a unique dystopian style and emphasized important philosophical, social, and political themes, the film Charlize Theron simplified everything that makes the whole general.

“Maybe the creators didn’t understand the original material and thought they were being faithful to it; Or maybe they understood it but didn’t think it would appeal to a wide enough audience and changed it to fit their intended target audience. They say they like the original version; However, they do not extend this trust to their audience– added the creator.

in terms of criticism Aeon Flux It received a low score of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, and AlloCiné viewers gave it a poor score of 1.8 out of 5…

Charlize Theron admits the facts

A remake and a second chance for it Charlize Theron ? Probably not, especially since even the latter admitted that everything was.spoiled“.

When speaking to Variety about the film, Theron said she “didn’t haveNever quite sure about the concept as a whole“, but he thought that “could be something“.

“I really liked Karin Kusama’s movie“, he said. “So I went into this project believing that he is a great filmmaker. And then we ruined everything“, he continued. “I guess we didn’t really know how to implement it. And it’s frustrating, but it happens. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that you won’t always succeed.“

If you want to (re)watch the movie and/or form your own opinion, go to VOD. For the original series, we’ll have to look to potential DVD and Blu-ray releases.