Æon Flux originally existed as an animated sci-fi/action TV series that ran on MTV during the first half of the 1990s. The property leapt to multiplexes as a big-budget live-action extravaganza in 2005 – and flopped, which becomes the reason we never got a sequel over the last 20 years.

After a virus kills 95 percent of the world’s population, scientist Trevor Goodchild finds a cure and his descendants rule the survivors and subsequent generations for four centuries,

The Goodchilds operate in an oppressive manner and rebels called “Monicans” rise to resist. Skilled agent Æon Flux (Charlize Theron) functions as a Monican and she pursues the downfall of the Goodchild regime, a quest complicated by revelations she learns along the way.

I immediately feel suspicious of movies that start with text introductions. As the Star Wars franchise demonstrates, that factor doesn’t inherently guarantee problems, but I see it as a warning sign of potential concerns.

The decision to toss out exposition in such a clunky way signals a possible lack of creativity and ingenuity. The stilted writing style used for Flux sure doesn’t do much to assuage my fears.

Nor does the immediate presentation of narration alter my worries. When a flick relies on text and then voiceover to launch its story, that seems like a bad way to go.

I understand that a tale like this needs to get out a lot of details to introduce us to its world. Nonetheless, a better-made movie would detail this information in a smoother manner.

Without question, Flux gets way too hung up on flashy photography and quick cutting. Many of the choices don’t even make sense.

Why would surveillance visuals be housed in a pool of water? The movie tries so hard to be cool and clever that it forgets anything substantial like logic or characters.

This also harms the action scenes. We find a few cool moments like the killer blades of grass, but mostly we discover pointless flash without impact.

The rapid cutting robs the action of impact. We don’t feel the punch of these scenes since they rely on so much movie gimmickry.

Flux depends on visuals because it comes with nothing else to offer. It doesn’t exactly give us a fresh, clever story or rich characters.

Its twists lack surprise and none of the participants ever emerge as interesting or full-bodied. This makes it a bland action movie since we simply don’t care what happens.

I never saw the aforementioned Flux animated series so I don’t know how many of its flaws come from that source. It must’ve had something to offer, though, or else no one would’ve adapted it.

I’d guess that its special qualities didn’t make the transition to the big screen. In the end, the live-action Flux lands with a thud.

Æon Flux appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This turned into a fine Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. Some wider shots became a little soft, but those didn’t dominate so we got a largely tight and concise film.

The movie lacked jagged edges or moiré effects, and it suffered from no edge haloes. Grain felt light but natural and I witnessed no print flaws.

The palette of Flux leaned toward a fairly standard mix of amber/orange and blue/teal, with a few expansions of hues at times. The disc reproduced these with nice impact and HDR added punch to the tones.

Blacks felt deep and tight, while low-light shots brought appealing clarity. Whites and contrast enjoyed a boost from HDR. Expect a solid image.

The movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack added involvement to the tale, as the material blended well and created a smooth soundscape. The elements moved neatly and popped up in logical spots to form a solid environment.

Audio quality was strong. Speech was natural and concise, while effects sounded clean and concise. Music presented strong range and impact. The whole thing packed a good punch, as low-end was deep and powerful. I left this one with a “B+” because the excessive activity created distractions.

How does the 4K UHD compare with the original Blu-ray from 2006? The soundstage seemed more natural than the overdone BD soundfield and the UHD replaced the lossy BD tracks with lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 so the material sounded more natural as well.

The Dolby Vision UHD’s picture demonstrated a much more obvious upgrade. The BD came out early in the existence of that format and brought some of those growing pains.

The UHD offered clear improvements in terms of sharpness, colors, blacks and general stability. This worked out as a major step up in picture quality.

All the extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy. Unfortunately, it literally duplicates the 2006 release so Paramount didn’t provide a remastered BD.

We open with two audio commentaries. The first features actor Charlize Theron and producer Gale Anne Hurd as both sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion of locations and sets, physical training and stunts, connections to the TV series, visual issues, and some story topics.

Though generally informative, the track’s low-key nature makes it slow going at times. Theron tosses out the best elements as she tells us about her injury, shooting in Berlin, and working with a baby.

The commentary gives us a reasonable amount of information but it comes with a fair amount of dead air and never really kicks into gear. Fans will want to give it a listen, but they shouldn’t expect a scintillating piece.

For the second commentary, we hear from co-screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. They also sit together for their running, screen-specific view of the influence of the original series, characters and story, plot concerns, and changes between the screenplay and the final product.

Though a bit low-key as well, the writers compensate with dry humor and good information. In particular, they tell us about cut elements and allow us to get a better feel for the film they intended to make versus the one that made it to theaters.

Those areas offer the commentary’s best parts. Manfredi and Hay don’t openly criticize the film, and they praise some parts of it, usually related to the actors.

However, one can definitely tell that the final product didn’t become what they wanted as they relate how studio pressures affected the movie and offer some notes about their original vision. Though the track drags at times, the combination of wit and openness helps make this a worthwhile discussion.

Five featurettes appear after this. Creating a World: Æon Flux runs 20 minutes, 49 seconds and presents notes from Hay, Manfredi, Hurd, Theron, producer David Gale, creator Peter Chung, storyboard artist Robin Richesson, director Karyn Kusama, and actors Marton Csokas, Sophie Okonedo and Pete Postlethwaite.

The program looks at the MTV series’ adaptation for the big screen and connections to the show, visual design and the film’s world, the story and themes, and characters and actors.

“Creating” offers an average overview of the film. It doesn’t spotlight any one subject particularly well, but it gives us a decent run through a mix of appropriate areas.

I do like the parts about the TV series the best. This makes me wish we learned a little more about it.

For The Locations of Æon Flux, we find a 14-minute, 47-second show. It features Gale, Kusama, Manfredi, Hurd, Hay, production designer Andrew McAlpine, location manager Matthias Braun, technician Rosemarie Ludewig, engineer Frank Lauterbach, and Tierheim manager Stefan Schenck.

The piece looks at the original idea to shoot in Brazil, the eventual choice of Berlin, and the many elements of that city used in the film. “Locations” gets into these topics quite well.

We see all the different spots and learn background about them. Some of the information repeats from the commentaries, but the visuals and other aspects of the show allow it to become useful.

The Stunts of Æon Flux fills nine minutes, three seconds. We get comments from Theron, Kusama, Okonedo, stunt coordinator Charlie Croughwell, and actor Caroline Chikezie.

Though the title implies a general look at the stunts, instead it focuses on the work of Theron and the other main actors. We hear about training and the physical aspects of the shoot.

This never becomes a really deep program and it tends to be a bit fluffy as it praises the achievements of the actors. Nonetheless, we get some nice tidbits, and the footage from the set adds to the piece.

Next comes a 13-minute, 36-second program called The Costume Design Workshop of Æon Flux. It presents information from costume designer Beatrix Aruna Pasztor, assistant costume designer Alexis Scott, and costume supervisor Meike Schlegel.

As implied by the title, this one tells us about the design and assembly of the movie’s clothes. We discover solid notes about influences and plans for the outfits as well as how they turn the concepts into reality. This ends up as a nice piece.

The set finishes with a trailer and The Craft of the Set Photographer on Æon Flux goes for three minutes, 34 seconds. We hear from still photographer Jasin Boland as he discusses his job. Despite the brevity of the featurette, it provides decent insights as it illuminates the set photographer’s work.

Does Æon Flux offer the viewer anything other than shots of Charlize Theron in sexy outfits? No, as the flick provides the occasional intriguing moment but buries these among pointless visuals and dull characters. The 4K UHD brings us solid picture and audio along with a mostly informative set of supplements. Nothing here excels and this remains a poor film.