Kusama's film retains some essential kink, but she downplays the s-and-m, kill-or-be-killed, dominate-or-submit sexual mentality that made Flux prosper in the ’90s.

Hollywood is notorious for taking meaty source material and ruining it, subjecting it to a veritable ringer of rewrites, endless edits and a nonstop battery of contextual sanitation.

So as a fan, I had immensely low expectations for the cinematic adaptation of Peter Chung's celebrated anime “Aeon Flux.” Could Hollywood authentically reproduce the kinky dystopic landscape of a seminal anime or would this film be doomed to be yet another stale action clone?

The answer to this the most pertinent of questions is a resounding kind-of.

My fears of “Flux” bastardization seemed to be corroborated when I learned Charlize Theron agreed to star in the film only with the expressed written condition that she be allowed to wear pants. That's right, Aeon Flux, wearing pants! My woe was palpable, but loyally I soldiered on to the cinema.

The result was surprising. Director Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight”) creates an ornate yet suitably desolate backdrop to the film that can be best likened to an amalgam of Stanley Kubrick's “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Madonna's “Bedtime Stories” video.

Thankfully, Kusama incorporates key iconic imagery from the anime into the film, creating the thankful suggestion that someone in Hollywood actually gave a damn about the story.

Like most action films, the plot is thin but the story takes a backseat to immaculate futuristic imagery and smart costuming. Sharp, militaristic uniforms, tight leather get-ups and dramatic new wave haircuts abound and it all adds to a sumptuous visual spectacle worthy of the source material.

Theron's Aeon has much moxie, although like many other action heroines before her (think Angelina Jolie in “Tomb Raider”), she fails to fully project the femme-dom sexual personae the animated Aeon was known for.

It is on the topic of sexuality that the film breaks down. Chung's original anime came fresh on the heels of other bizarre MTV animes like “The Maxx” and “The Head,” and it is very likely that the team behind the original “Aeon Flux” was encouraged to be weird.

Kusama's film retains some essential kink, but she downplays the s-and-m, kill-or-be-killed, dominate-or-submit sexual mentality that made Flux prosper in the ’90s.

What the film lacks in sexual depth it makes up for in its uniquely crafted digital imagery. The film disappoints somewhat in its hopeful end (the animated Flux was nihilistic at core).

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