Review of Jupiter Ascending (2015) by Harry W — 08 Oct 2015

Having enjoyed the work of The Wachowskis on The Matrix trilogy and Cloud Atlas for their amazing eyes for imagery, Jupiter Ascending appeared to be yet another impressive science fiction spectacle.

It wasn't. To be blunt, Jupiter Ascending demands very little time before viewers can recognize its low quality and then expects them to stick around for the remaining two hours. That proves to be a massive mistake because the feature is such an overloaded film that cannot help but feel extensively empty.

Though I haven't seen Jupiter Ascending before this viewing, I've seen essentially every other science fiction film that it attempts to steal from. The way it takes Star Wars imagery and Stargate concepts and characters while using scenes that heavily mirror Flash Gordon and even Ender's Game just cries out that there are countless better options out there. There is even a feeling that the film borrows from the Harry Potter series, particularly in the extended scene where Jupiter Jones is dragged through a collection of intergalactic banks and businesses. The musical score itself matches this because it creates a bit of a large-scaled fantastical mood which matches the atmosphere of the film consistently throughout much of its material. But this makes no compensation for the narrative which cannot disguise its familiar roots. And the fact that it attempts to hide the derivative nature of many of its plot points underneath others which are just plain convoluted doesn't work. Ultimately, the story oscillates between being familiar in some parts and just confusing in the others.

While The Matrix had a massive universe, it took three films and countless other forms of transmedia to fully capture the massive scope of events and characters. In Jupiter Ascending, The Wachowskis attempt to cram the entire universe into a single film. They put it all into a script packed with self-indulgent dialogue that assumes viewers already know about everything within the universe of the narrative. This is where the familiarity it not present, this is where the confusing and incoherence is at its endeavour. Attempting to keep up with the massive universe of planets and species in Jupiter Ascending is hard enough without the rest of the film being so uncompelling that it hardly seems worth it. And when the characters begin to speak, audiences are confronted by the lifeless dialogue which comes with a surplus of soap opera melodrama in lieu of coherence. The dialogue is all a lot of confusing context establishment with some sporadically half-assed attempts at character building along the way and even some sporadic attempts at pretentious humour. The brief moments that the film takes where it tries to be humourous don't make sense. In actual fact, it just establishes a tonal imbalance in the film where it detracts from the intended serious narrative for the sake of camp humour regardless of the situation. This humour is the kind found in a conventional contemporary American comedy film, and not in a good way. So if the drama in Jupiter Ascending wasn't already pathetic, then the addition of attempted comedic value merely worsens it. The writing in Jupiter Ascending just seems heavily intent on ruining everything.

Even the visual experience of Jupiter Ascending lacks any sort of impact. The entire scene involving Caine Wise's sky battle on rollerblades with a series of spaceships could not feel more fake. The scene is very weak because it is clearly made out of nothing more than a series of tracking shots over the city which have a massive CGI overkill imposed over the top. The CGI is so abundant that it makes the experience feel animated, and against the backdrop of dull and repetive scenery there is ultimately no effect. The visual effects are obvious as they do not merge with the backdrop but remain too obviously on the foreground. Sometimes, the background is entirely composed out of visual effects and this is even worse because there is nothing practical at all in the visual field at it is all just obvious animation. This scene reflects many scenes in the film, though not in a good way. Though it should be a momentary action guilty please, in actual fact the scene ended up reminding me of a similar sequence from Highlander II: The Quickening which is notorious for being the single worst film ever made in the history of cinema. The fact that Jupiter Ascending reminds me of a memory I wish to erase is almost like cinematic PTSD triggered by this film. That's a pretty ludicrous way to examine the film, but then again it's a pretty ludicrous piece. The overall balance between practicality and visual effects in in this particular scene and most of Jupiter Ascending is just very poor.

Frankly, the visual effects in Jupiter Ascending fail to make the impression I was hoping for. I knew that the film would be a CGI overkill, but I didn't expect it all to be a lot of repetitive monochromatic colours which zip by the screen so fast without the same dedication to detail that won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for The Wachowski's most critically acclaimed film The Matrix. When we first see the aliens gather for discussion it is abundantly clear that the entire setting is composed out of visual effects and little else, and that level of low quality ends up playing out consistently across the visual effects overkill. As well as that, nany of the scenes make use of obvious 3D effects which are incredible unnecesarry and interferes with the potential for the film to be a more large scale science fiction adventure by incorporating an abundance of shots that occur too close to the characters and events.

Frankly, despite the film being called Jupiter Ascending, the entire experience just serves as a sign of careers declining. And this lacklustre film work weighs down on the cast who are stuck in senseless roles which really prove many of their limitations.

Mila Kunis plays such a conventionally idiodic archetype that there is nothing heroic about her. Jupiter Jones is a character said to appeal to a niche female audience who appreciate the relatability of the confused character whose lack of heroism is more realistic, but for the rest of us she simply comes off as the wrong character for a science fiction adventure. Why anyone would try for realism in a film about transhuman crossbreeds in an intergalactic battle to rescue makes no sense, particularly when the "realistic" archetype does not fit the context of the narrative whatsoever. The unrealistic part of her performance comes from the fact that she should at least have some kind of emotion in her, but the repetetive, whiny and confused nature that Mila Kunis puts into the part offers zero appeal. It surprised me when I heard that someone gave her a leading role in a big budget science fiction film, and this was more surprising for me when I saw just how little she could do in the role. Mila Kunis is a miscast lead in Jupiter Ascending, though its hard to imagine that many actresses could do much with the role anyway.

Channing Tatum has slight gimmicks. His character's lack of emotion is hidden beneath makeup and costume alterations, but the man maintains a genuine sense of intensity during the sequences which require him to get actively involved in the action which at least gives him some slight realistic edge. There is nothing impressive about the character he has to play, not visually or coherently. And so when he delivers on these minimalist expectations, his handsome appeal is the only thing he has to boast about. He still has that, but there is nothing that he or the audience can feel about the generic nature of the character.

Sean Bean's presence is a nice touch though, particularly considering his timely success on Game of Thrones in recent years.

But most notably, Eddie Redmayne delivers an extremely frustrating performance. Eddie Redmayne's impersonation of Marlon Brando's Jor-El from the original Superman films and Sir Chritsopher Lee's Saruman from the Lord of the Rings series borrows some elements from Gary Oldman in Leon: The Professional as well. Only problem is that it's sh*t. Though he is supposedly the central antagonist of the story, there is nothing intimidating about him. The story is bad enough without having to watch the man who stole Michael Keaton's Academy Award choke on his words like a frail old man. In Jupiter Ascending he gives a performance which I honestly believe will leave many wondering how he ever won an Academy Award in the first place. There is nothing antagonizing about him except for the fact that his performance is so spiritless that it will antagonize viewers away from the film if there wasn't already enough doing that.

So due to an incoherently convoluted screenplay, a repetitive CGI overkill and lifeless performances, Jupiter Ascending is a lifeless and derivative science fiction film which goes below even the standard of The Matrix Reloaded with nothing dramatically appealing or funny to boast about.