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High-kicking her way through a gleaming 25th-century utopia in figure-hugging spandex, Charlize Theron torpedoes her post-Oscar credibility in Aeon Flux, a hilariously daft slice of futuristic fantasy from Girlfight helmer Karyn Kusama. Based on a short-lived MTV animated series, this half-baked Matrix wannabe casts the Monster star as a lethal assassin who falls in love with her latest target. Preposterous, pretentious and surprisingly dull, the only interest comes from the bondage gear its leading lady sports while going about her deadly business.

Four centuries after humanity's near-eradication by a killer virus, what's left of mankind resides in the walled city of Bregna, a hi-tech paradise governed by ruler/dictator Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas). But there is something sinister at the heart of this Orwellian futureworld, and rebel agent Aeon (Theron) is determined to find out what it is. After her sister is murdered by Goodchild's power-crazed brother Oren (Jonny Lee Miller), our nimble heroine breaks into Trevor's impregnable fortress to exact revenge. However, her trigger-finger is paralysed by long-suppressed emotions that suggest they know each other more than they realise...

"AN ILL-CONCEIVED FARRAGO"

Full of award-winning actors who should really know better (we're talking about you, Frances McDormand) and the duffest dialogue this side of Catwoman, Kusama's flick would be completely inert were it not for its stylishly kinetic fight sequences and impressively orchestrated shoot-outs. These, though, are not enough to salvage an ill-conceived farrago that's destined to spend as little time in cinemas as Elektra, Hollywood's last failed stab at a female action franchise.