Review of Jupiter Ascending (2015) by Daniel-Critic — 11 Feb 2015

Over the top to the extreme, an extended visual orgasm, complete with a Royal Wedding and giant flying lizard people. Yep, that sums up "Jupiter Ascending". This movie was not made for the masses.

I went into "Jupiter Ascending", with low expectations after all of the horrible reviews but I was hopeful the Wachowski's would deliver something unique. On that note I was not disappointed. (Plus the movie gets bonus points for being original—not a remake or sequel—with a beginning, middle and end.).

True, the film is dopey with characters named Jupiter Jones, Caine Wise, and Stinger (a guy who lives with bees). The dialog is flat and embarrassing, framed in a fairly simple story with a few twists and turns, And yes the story is completely unbelievable, nonsensical and disjointed with two-dimensional characters, and pacing/editing that exhibits a jumpy start and stop rhythm. But dammit, this movie was FUN and a feast for the eyes!

With references to Alien, Blade Runner, Brazil, Cinderella, Dune, Men in Black, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, Fellini's Satyricon, The Wizard of Oz, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, and more, "Jupiter Ascending" is a Science fiction/ Fantasy love letter to the genre. I'd say it's comparable to Pacific Rim from a few years back, another excellent, and rather silly science fiction/action film that under-preformed at the box office. Highfaluting, half-baked philosophical crap abounds, (there even seems to be a sub-text involving the virtues of cleaning toilets and maintaining regular bowel movements???) and I enjoyed the whole banquet.

"Jupiter Ascending" is a deliciously layered candy bar full of nuts and honey and other weird things you probably shouldn't think too hard about. It's most likely bad for you but tastes so good! I want to go back and experience the film again and see how it holds up on second viewing. Probably too weird for mainstream audiences and too dumb for the art-house crowd, "Jupiter Ascending" has future cult film written all over it. Time will tell.