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Reviews
Æon Flux (2005)
All right homage to show, but not a perfect interpretation, and weak as a stand-alone feature
Okay, I saw "Aeon" last night, and I found the movie to be more of an homage to the series, itself, than a true stand-alone feature. It seemed to me like the writers just plucked as many names and gadgets from individual episodes as they could, and laid them upon a skeleton of a storyline. As a fan, I appreciate that, as the series has been largely ignored post-cancellation, but to the general movie-going public, I can see why it would seem to be a sub-par feature.
As far as my problems with character translation, my biggest gripe is with the writers' interpretation of Trevor. In the series, he was quite methodical and quite full of himself, though he did have a tender and compassionate side to him. I felt the film version of Trevor was far too soft and innocent.
I wasn't completely satisfied with Aeon, either. I felt that the film version was far more idealistic than the animated one. During the show, Aeon was an anarchist, out only for herself and only occasionally humanity. Here, she seemed to be more of humanity's great champion, out to avenge the wrongs done by the Goodchild regime. Plus, her relationship with Trevor during the show was far more contentious and love/hate than it was in the film.
I thought Theron's performance as Aeon was passable, and I do appreciate her working so hard, both physically and mentally, to do her best at portraying Aeon; but, with such a weak script, I wasn't impressed. As Trevor said in one episode, "I know cats always land on their feet, but at this point, there's really no floor."
Perhaps if the writers had more closely followed the original subject matter, the movie would have been more compelling. However, in its current state, the film is, at best, an all right homage to the show. At the very least, it spurred MTV to finally release the balance of the series on DVD and heightened the public's interest in Peter Chung's work. As an "Aeon" fan, I give the film a 5/10.
Edge of Madness (2002)
Captivating, but ultimately disappointing film
I very much enjoyed Caroline Dhavernas' performance in the failed series Wonderfalls, so I thought I would purchase the Edge of Madness DVD, and view some of her other work. Besides Wonderfalls, I had only previously seen her in the comedy Out Cold, and wanted to see her in a serious work. However, I was ultimately disappointed by the film, and would not recommend it.
Firstly, as I knew some background on Caroline Dhavernas, and her character was of French background in the film, I assumed the film took place somewhere in Canada. However, the film never makes this clear, and simply announces the location as "Red River Valley." Any Canadian worth their salt might know that this is located in the province of Manitoba, but as an American, I was not familiar with it, and would have preferred greater clarity, e.g. "Red River Valley, Manitoba." I suppose the film's producers never expected many people outside of Canada to take interest in the film, and didn't feel they needed to clarify, which seems somewhat unprofessional.
At any rate, the film starts promisingly, and it seems the viewer is in for a good mystery. However, throughout the entire film, we're fed large blocks of Caroline Dhavernas' character's flashbacks. A truly compelling mystery leaves the viewer in the dark until the very end. However, this film keeps its viewers remarkably well-informed from beginning to end, making the final details of the story less-than-shocking. When the audience knows more than the film's investigating constable the entire time, it's difficult to even classify this film as a mystery.
A further hindrance to the enjoyment of the film was the extraordinarily thick Scottish accents two of the main characters have. I found myself frequently having to rewind the film, and even activate the English subtitles, just to get key pieces of dialogue in the movie. At some points, I even let the muddled lines go, too frustrated to rewind. There's a fine line between authentic and unintelligible, and if being the first means being the latter, I feel that it's okay to sacrifice a little sliver of authenticity for the sake of the viewer's comprehension. Fortunately, Ms. Dhavernas' French accent and the standard North American accents of the rest of the cast came through loud and clear.
The ending was quite muddled, leaving me without much of a sense of closure, justice or satisfaction. It left me wondering if the characters had really grown or learnt anything throughout the entire film, and if it really did justice to the film's themes. Also, the characters' relationships really weren't well-developed in my opinion, and needed more depth.
All this being said, the film's acting was excellent. Caroline Dhavernas did her best with a bad script, and her performance was quite moving and mature. Brendan Fehr, of the canceled series Roswell, proves that he can also handle a serious role, and the rest of the cast does adequate work. However, even such superb acting cannot salvage an inherently ill-conceived script.
In conclusion, Edge of Madness is an intelligent, well-acted film, but written and formatted poorly, and often confusing. If you're a die-hard Caroline Dhavernas fan, rent it just for the heck of it, but if not, don't waste your money on a purchase or even a rental. It's a waste of your time and a waste of good talent.
Radio Free Roscoe (2003)
Wonderful, if unbelievable, children's show
First, I would just like to say that, in the tradition of "Pete and Pete," Will McRobb has truly made an intelligent, entertaining, relatable show for children and young teenagers. I thought the pilot was rather lackluster. (Let's be honest. The pilot was horrible.) But every episode since has been excellent and earnest. However, my only complaint about the show is that you have to suspend your disbelief to watch it.
Why do you have to suspend your disbelief? Not because four intelligent teenagers couldn't run a pirate radio station, but because of the inconsistencies on the show. First, I understand that the show is produced in Canada, so there is no FCC. However, Canada is a civilized, Western nation with its own system of radio regulation, so you can't just set up an antenna and start broadcasting without a license. In one episode, Ray (Pronto) even admits on the air that they are unlicensed. So, in theory, if one were running an illegal radio station, one wouldn't want to make it easy to be caught. So how can you run a pirate radio station with a call-in line?! Even if the number is unlisted, it would be extraordinarily easy for the police or any other techno-savvy person to trace it. In the episode where Principal Waller was having the graffiti investigated by the police, or at least was about to, don't you think the first thing the police would do would be to trace the phone number? In addition, if Waller really wanted RFR off the air that badly, he could just report them to Canada's equivalent of the FCC, and they would trace the phone number. And even if they were illegally tapping into a phone number that wasn't theirs, it would still be an easy matter for the police to trace where these taps were coming from, especially if RFR uses the same phone number each time.
Again, I love Radio Free Roscoe. I think it's an excellent, well-written show, and that the entire cast has talent, (especially Kate Todd, who I hope will really be going places). However, the show just doesn't make any sense. Though, I suppose you can write it off to Will McRobb's penchant for abstraction, a la Pete and Pete.