How much you’ll enjoy The Wachowski’s latest, Jupiter Ascending, will depend on how
you like your big budget sci-fi. Are you a SF fan who expects your brain to work
up as big a sweat as your eyes when you watch a film, or can you happily switch
your grey matter to auto-pilot, enjoy the big set pieces and ignore the
onslaught of clichés and awkward dialogue? If you agreed with the last part of
that sentence, you’ll have a giant smile on your face whilst watching Jupiter Ascending; otherwise you’re
better off with Shaun the Sheep: The
Movie.
The brilliantly named Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is a
strapped-for-cash cleaner, sharing a flat with her mum and aunt. Trouble comes
calling when it’s discovered that she is the rightful heir to planet Earth,
half-human, half-wolf warrior Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) protecting her from
the Abrasax family, one of the universe’s wealthiest dynasties, who want Earth
for themselves.
The Wachowskis, who wrote, produced, and directed one of
the best films of the ‘90’s, The Matrix,
have once again raised the bar with Jupiter
Ascending, virtually every frame is filled with right up-to-the-second,
state-of-the-art CGI. It’s beautiful in a gigantic spaceships, imaginatively
designed aliens, extravagant throne rooms sort of way. Two of the big
highlights are Jupiter and Caine – in his anti-grav boots – soaring through the
Chicago skyline, buildings blown apart as they’re being shot at, as well as the
film’s climax that sees Jupiter and Balem (Eddie Redmayne) fighting on a mining
planet that is burning up around them. If you get the chance to see this on an
IMAX, fork out the extra cash, as it looks fantastic.
The whole cast do a good enough job, no one lets the side
down. You’ll root for Kunis, who has sassiness as well as looks, giving us a
well-timed one-liner to help make the pomp and absurdity of the Wachowski’s
script a little easier to swallow, while Tatum gets to do more than be the
tough, strong hero with his shirt off; he’s ferocious in a fight, yet, when him
and Jupiter first meet, he has no clue how to talk to her (his only interaction
with human beings is through military training). When Caine inevitably falls
for Jupiter, he struggles to say anything – she’s royalty, he’s something
created in a lab.
It’s The Theory of
Everything’s Eddie Redmayne who steals the show here, not just chewing the
scenery, but devouring it like Sesame
Street’s Cookie Monster demolishing a plate of his favourite biscuits. With
a throaty, genteel voice, yelling, glaring and hissing in all the right places,
Redmayne delivers his clunky, space opera villain dialogue like he’s doing a
stint at Shakespeare’s Globe. He doesn’t quite reach the camp, pantomime
heights of Alan Rickman in Robin Hood:
Prince of Thieves, but he’s close. You miss Redmayne whenever he’s off-screen.
The big problem with Jupiter
Ascending is the amount of explaining it does. If you thought Michael Bay’s
Transformer films were bogged down in
exposition, characters going on about the McGuffin and various backstories, then
the Wachowskis don’t just break Bay’s record, they demolish it. Virtually all
of Sean Bean’s dialogue has him talking about an ancient dynasty, or the rules
of Jupiter Ascending’s world, while
Kunis asks what the hell is going on every ten/fifteen minutes (“We need to
find the [insert bizarrely named object here].” “What’s the [insert bizarrely
named object here]?”), queuing another several minute rant about someone or
something that makes little-to-no-difference to the film’s narrative. It wouldn’t
be so bad if Jupiter Ascending had
some original ideas, something that surprised you, but instead the Wachowskis churn
out one sci-fi cliché after another, clichés that date back to Forbidden Planet or Flash Gordon.
Jupiter
Ascending is decent enough, no more, no less, which is amazing considering
the talent on board. As far as the visuals go, it’s one of the best films you’ll
see in 2015, but the script is predictable sci-fi hokum. Pay that little bit extra
to see it on an IMAX, fill yourself up with popcorn, coke, or whatever
sugar/carbs you fancy, and enjoy it for what it is: fun, bonkers, overblown
entertainment.
3 out of 5
Matt
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