Day two of this week and time to bring out the final review of the 6-film blitz accomplished over this past weekend. The fantasy realm was covered with “Seventh Son”, so it was onward to another popular genre, Science Fiction, in the form of Village Roadshow and Warner Brothers Pictures’ “Jupiter Ascending”.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
Directed by the famous (or perhaps infamous) duo of Andy and Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowskis), who did provide to us the science fiction genius that was “The Matrix” (the first film to be precise…numbers 2 & 3, not so much), this adventure takes us into the life of simple girl Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) whose mundane existence gets a major shake up with the arrival of alien-bred humanoid Caine Wise (Channing Tatum), a hunter sent by the powerful, galaxy wandering, planet-owning/inheriting Abrasax siblings: sister Kalique (Tuppence Middleton), and brothers Titus (Douglas Booth) and Balem (Eddie Redmayne), the latter of whom is VERY power-mad. Discovering through Caine and a former compatriot of his, Stinger Apini (Sean Bean), that she is actually the reincarnation of the sibling’s mother, Jupiter finds herself embroiled in a war for ownership of Earth, with Caine becoming her only true protector, while the galactic politics rage between the brothers, especially Balem, who simply wants Jupiter out of the picture completely. Alliances are formed and broken, assassins and other alien threats abound, yet a closeness develops between Caine and Jupiter, and the fate of Earth, even the balance of power in the universe, begins to unfold as a whole new reality for her future is revealed. But, only if she can protect her family, defeat Balem, and then survive to choose to take her place of power and utilize it for the greater good of Earth and the universe.
One would desire to always try and look beyond even their personal preferences if possible when watching a film to at minimum capture the essence of what it is all about or what the intent is at least. Unfortunately, what this film brought was really a convoluted mess. While the basic story is clear, it all comes across so poorly due to bad dialogue and overall writing that this reviewer could not take it seriously, much less be entertained by it. And again we have a situation where some very accomplished actors are, frankly, wasted on the mediocrity presented. Eddie Redmayne is up for an Oscar, for crying out loud, and thankfully moved on TO films that could utilize his talents so much better than here, where his Balem is an “ominously” whispering villain, and not really effectively so. Kunis plays Jupiter with as much character as she can (looking good doing it, granted), given the material to work with here (again not much!), but comes across rather boring really for being such a central person. The same can be said for Channing Tatum, whose recent turn in the Oscar nominated true story “Foxcatcher” MUCH more showcases his talents. Here, he’s a hired thug who then tries to come across as a mighty guardian, sadly again, very two dimensionally so. And Sean Bean is simply wasted here. The visual aspects of the movie are impressive on a big screen, with spanning shots of the stars and planets, spaceship dogfights, and other laser-guided action pieces. But that’s about the best thing that can be said for the whole debacle. And better, more recent examples of space-set fiction like “Interstellar” and “Gravity” exist to please fans. Given the fact The Wachowskis had somewhat revolutionized the sci-fi genre with “The Matrix”, it’s unfortunate to now continue to see that they might have ended up one-trick ponies. This reviewer is going to bide his time and wait for the OTHER major sci-fi offering to absolutely “WOW!!” Some little film called “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
