Today, I bet you will find it hard to find anyone who has not see the original Matrix movie by the Wachowski siblings, no longer brothers since Larry had a sex change and is now Lana, so how does Jupiter Ascending stack up to their classic? Let’s dig in ...
Jupiter Ascending is basically a Cinderella story set as a space opera. With the ever sassy Mia Kunis as our Cinderella and Channing Tatum as the prince charming aka half wolf aka spaceman. Unfortunately this role does not exploit Kunis' sassiness but gives us tropes and gender messaging from 1904. So if you are into damsel in distress tales then this is for you if not, stay away.
'Cause like the fairy tale of Cinderella, Jupiter Ascending does not cover itself with progressive ideas . Mia Kunis' character has no drive, no motivation to do anything and is the most naïve character put to screen since Timothy the turtle on Kideo.
You’d think the guys behind the Matrix and Cloud Atlas would give this female lead story some substance. Instead the only thing she wants close to any form of self actualization is to be loved by Channing. I guess a lot of ladies won't find anything wrong with getting some love from Channing but watching a movie where the main character is a damsel who needs constant rescuing and can't think for herself or have her own journey outside from sucking face with Channing is very dull.
Remember how even when Neo just wanted to suck face with Trinity, he also wanted to rescue Morpheus and was learning more about himself and what he could do. Well Mia's Jupiter has no great quest of her own, no discovery of special abilities or her own capabilities.
Jupiter Ascending is a case of a bad movie happening to a heap of good actors. Channing Tatum really puts it out there, bear chested and all but the material is beyond pulpy. Poor Eddie Redmayne - soon to be seen in The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawking - plays a very camp one dimensional villian and he does his best but alas the material is poor. There’s no nuance or complexity here.
The one thing that the Wachowski’s still have, credited as co-directors and writers, is a flare for visual effects. They are able to make the VFX fit well into the world and create cool action sequences but that’s the only thing this film offers. Okay some of the costumes are really neat but that’s it.
Besides that, the story is pedestrian, the drama almost lacking and Mia’s character infuriating in her sheepishness. We have the Wachowski’s to thank.
Maybe their first ever PG 13 film rating was a failed attempt at pandering to the young market by omitting some of their strengths which is mostly marrying high concept ideas/ philosophy with popular filmmaking techniques. A la The Matrix and Cloud Atlas.
It’s like they took out anything that will need brain processing and just left the stuff that make these type of blockbusters crappy - weak story, even weaker character and plenty of skop, skiet and donner.
One wonders if we shall ever see them eclipse what they did in The Matrix or are they destined to end up like
M. Night Shyamalan. Yep this movie is that bad.
Rating *
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
index
* Junk **Almost bearable ***Now we cooking **** Almost perfect ***** Classic
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++