Movie Muser

I love science fiction. The fully realised worlds and endless possibilities of our universe visualised in front of us. I also love the adventure and the fact there are lots of things that you just can’t get away with in other genres.

However I am always wary whenever a film gets delayed. Jupiter Ascending was supposed to be released last July but was pushed back at the last minute, officially due to additional special effects work. But rumour has it that it was due to poor test screenings and Warner’s wasn’t prepared to make a loss after The Wachowski’s Cloud Atlas (2012) flopped, despite being a good film in my opinion.

Its current release window makes it the alternative choice to Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and this film certainly appeals to a wider demographic.

Jupiter Rising is a sci-fi fairy tale which stars Mila Kunis as Jupiter Jones, a cleaner stuck in a dead end life. She unknowingly is the genetic reincarnation of a powerful queen. She is hunted down and rescued by Caine (Channing Tatum), a half human half dog like ‘splice’ who makes her aware of her destiny, and they are drawn into an intergalactic adventure involving rival factions and a plot that involves the inheritance of the queens three children.

The plot is a lot more complex, confusing and needlessly so. But it’s an adventure involving a royal family, uncovers the true reason for mankind on earth, industry, bureaucrats, robots, cyborgs and a hint of civil war. But it’s best not to think too much with this film and just go along for the bumpy ride.

The Wachowski’s once brought us The Matrix, but it’s been over 15 years since that blew us away and let’s not talk about the sequels. They wanted to make an original sci-fi but in reality there is very little original about this film.

Its plot is predictable and lifts elements from Cinderella (for example, she’s a cleaner) which it overtly references, and Jupiter and Caine are literally ‘beauty and the beast’. There’s even a wedding and animal friends!

Now I wasn’t expecting much from this film and my low expectations were met. Some of the dialogue is awful yet quotable (“Bees are genetically designed to recognise royalty”), the acting isn’t great and there isn’t a lot of logic in its plot.

It knows what it is yet unfortunately it isn’t as fun as it should be. For a start its 30 minutes too long and unfortunately dragged once they went into space. I for one won’t be watching the rumoured extended cut which will debut for home entertainment later this year.

The characters are a bit wooden and I found the main villain Balem Abrasax (Eddie Redmayne) annoying and unthreateningly wimpish. As with a lot of Hollywood films this villain has a British accent, yet id kind of withered like an old man or someone who smokes 40 a day. To think that this is the man who played Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), here acting operatic with a henchman who looks like a mouse.

Sean Bean plays his usual typecast self and raises the question of whether he survives this film? I won’t spoil it, but it’s hard to review films without spoilers.

Channing Tatum is also his usual self as the former legionnaire with a taste for royals. There’s nothing really positive or negative in his performance, we all know he makes a good action star and his growls are a nice touch. However the ladies will be pleased to know that he spends a large chunk of this film shirtless.

Mila Kunis needs to have another role to show off her acting talent, and unfortunately in this she doesn’t have a lot to do except reacting off the other characters and being the damsel. The dialogue in supposed romantic moments between her and Tatum is cringe worthy, even for teenagers, and their predictable relationship just feels corny.

On to some positives though. This is a visually spectacular film and I recommend seeing it on the big screen due to the spaceships and landscapes. If only the story were better then this would be a cinematic event. That being said this film is around 70% CGI but the Wachowski’s have got an eye for visual flair.

The costumes are great and we get a sense of space renaissance. There is a nice juxtaposition between mechanical cyber punk and the gothic aristocracy both in costume, set and ship design. That being said everything looks golden brown with hints of blue and orange.

Nods to traditional sci-fi archetypes included grey aliens, levitating in beams of light, wiped memories and crop circles are nice touches and I got a Flash Gordon (1980) vibe, but this is more in the vein or The Fifth Element (1997), just not as fun despite a few good laughs.

As expected the action scenes are great but never reach the heights of a spectacular scene about 30 minutes into the film. There are a lot of slow-motion moments and Caine has a flare for acrobatic shootouts, mainly due to skating with his gravity surf boots which may be cooler than a hoverboard.

The film overall has a lot of potential, yet relies too much on the familiar. The main characters are never in any real sense of danger and plot has too many predictable beats and it doesn’t have an impactful ending.

I would like the Wachowski’s next project to be dark and low budget, but I wouldn’t be overly opposed to a sequel. As with The Matrix, they have set up a world that should be explored, not altered and added to.

Overall Verdict: This is a highly ambitious and complex film which is visually fantastic. It tries to be magical and enchanting, yet lacks any real context and is let down by a predictable story. It’s a popcorn flick which won’t disappoint if that’s what you’re after.

Reviewer: George Elcombe