So, I've aired my views on more than one occasion that this movie has been advertised and delayed for so long. So what gives? Is it Star Wars or Star Bores? Let's find out shall we?
The Washowski's directed the much acclaimed The Matrix - a mind-bending sci fi masterpiece that required you to watch it about 5 times to get the undercurrents and story down on pat. The first viewing blew you away with ground breaking special effects (that have oft been imitated since), cyber-goth attire and of course, the sliding Nokia phones.
They were really cool back in the day, honest.
Jupiter Ascending (I keep wanting to call it Jupiter Rises for some reason), is based around the main character Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis). Jupiter Jones, who sounds like an alterego for a superhero, is more of a Cinerella type character who cleans toilets and does menial housework chores as a job. She also apparently hates her life as a caretaker. One day she helps an acquaintance (I actually believe it is someone she works for) to choose a dress for her date with some hot shot millionaire and goes to the walk in cupboard to select one for her. As she does so some aliens (best described as little green men) attack her and try to kill her. Jupiter hides and takes photos on her Apple iPhone (tm). Meanwhile she has her eye on a telescope on eBay (tm) and would really like it but it is $3,999. So she pops off, on the advice of her rather crazy cousin, to donate her eggs to a place that pays for them so she can get a telescope and her cousin something that is, no less, an Xbox One (tm). She attends under the guise of the lady she was choosing the dress for. Attending the aforementioned clinic she "captured" by the doctors who turn out to be aliens. As she's about to be brutally murdered by them, some alien dude by the name of Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) comes whisking in guns ablazing and saves her. Previous to this all Jupiter knew was copious amounts of product placement in her world and that her world is pretty much the same as ours. Then, 30 or so minutes later, she finds out (as do we) that everyone thinks she is a reincarnated Queen of the universe and owns Earth. Humans are not alone and there are other species out there - which all look like they have raided Lady Gaga's wardrobe. Naturally cue some massive space battles, dizzyingly large set pieces and lots of aliens that like shooting each other and a welcome appearance by Sean Bean as soldier Stinger who has an unhealthy obsession with bees.
Will the queen take her rightful place in the universe or will the bad guys win?
The film itself - from a special effects standpoint - is awesome. The set pieces, the spacecraft and creativity of the world is immense. I saw this movie in 2d and wished I'd have seen it in 3d. The whole feel is very reminiscent of other movies and so too is the story and characters. And I think this is where it lets itself down. The world is rich and diverse and it could be so developed into a franchise. However there's a lot of issues it would need to resolve before it became the next Star Wars.
Jupiter herself is quite a feisty character and I'm really embarrassed to say this but Mila Kunis is so pretty that she is quite enchanting on the screen. But that's about as far as it goes for her character. Jupiter herself seemed a very weak character in comparison to others - they could have done so much more than making her the damsel in distress. The two most violent things she did was throw (and smash) an intergalactic version of an iPad (tm) on the floor and kick some bloke in the crotch. Other than that she spends the rest of the runtime of the movie talking, walking and running away from stuff. I felt she could have been used more than just something for Caine to save every five minutes. In this way it felt like it would if they made a Dr Who movie that was focussed on the companion and the Doctor appears every now and then to save them.
Channing Tatum is the serious bad-ass character for the girls to swoon over but makes it clear that he is a hyprid of wolf and human. Jupiter falls for him; so here we have a girl swooning over a wolf man - where have we heard that before? There's also another pale alien prince who wants to marry her - and these aliens keep young by using essence of humans that they harvest on Earth. Jupiter makes a reference to them being vampires and they reply that they are kind of in a way. Hello, Twilight! There is also a Flash Gordon (remember that movie?) style wedding that almost occurs as well! I've already mentioned her being a toilet cleaner and caretaker who happens to be an heir to royalty - Hello, Cinderella!
Eddie Redmaye's turn as the psychopathic bad guy is right out of Voldemort's guide to acting - I was expecting him to go on about the boy who lived and how much he hated Dumbledore!
Some of the music and places they visited looked right out of Star Wars, even to the point that my brother leaned over to me and said, "Are they visiting Coruscant?"
Some of the actions sequences were breathtakingly fast and spectacular - I am really not sure if it was because I was in the first row of the cinema or that these action sequences were really fast and blurry - similar to Transformers when things were all happening with completely loose camera shots. It was dizzying and spectacular but I didn't know what was happening and only got my head back when everything stopped and the characters took a break for some much needed dialogue.
The movie itself though is not that bad - I had a few grumbles outlined above, but generally it's quite watchable. I think the lack of originality in the story is apparent, but the world in which it is carried out is fascinating, but it just doesn't go any further than the main characters. There is so much scope for a franchise on this, but I think the Washowski's slightly missed the mark. Even so, I have to say I did quite like it and it was no where near as bad as I feared.
If you like Sci Fi you will like this - but it's nothing you haven't seen before, and I think that's where it is a let down. It's the starter of the meal before you get to the signature dish that is Star Wars in December. We need some good space sci fi movies and this will do for now until the much anticipated Star Wars will come and show them how it's done. I think the 3d version would come across much better than the 2d version I saw. Still, it's worth checking out if you want to see a special effects extravaganza in space.
Jupiter Ascending is out at all good cinemas now.
The film itself - from a special effects standpoint - is awesome. The set pieces, the spacecraft and creativity of the world is immense. I saw this movie in 2d and wished I'd have seen it in 3d. The whole feel is very reminiscent of other movies and so too is the story and characters. And I think this is where it lets itself down. The world is rich and diverse and it could be so developed into a franchise. However there's a lot of issues it would need to resolve before it became the next Star Wars.
Jupiter herself is quite a feisty character and I'm really embarrassed to say this but Mila Kunis is so pretty that she is quite enchanting on the screen. But that's about as far as it goes for her character. Jupiter herself seemed a very weak character in comparison to others - they could have done so much more than making her the damsel in distress. The two most violent things she did was throw (and smash) an intergalactic version of an iPad (tm) on the floor and kick some bloke in the crotch. Other than that she spends the rest of the runtime of the movie talking, walking and running away from stuff. I felt she could have been used more than just something for Caine to save every five minutes. In this way it felt like it would if they made a Dr Who movie that was focussed on the companion and the Doctor appears every now and then to save them.
Channing Tatum is the serious bad-ass character for the girls to swoon over but makes it clear that he is a hyprid of wolf and human. Jupiter falls for him; so here we have a girl swooning over a wolf man - where have we heard that before? There's also another pale alien prince who wants to marry her - and these aliens keep young by using essence of humans that they harvest on Earth. Jupiter makes a reference to them being vampires and they reply that they are kind of in a way. Hello, Twilight! There is also a Flash Gordon (remember that movie?) style wedding that almost occurs as well! I've already mentioned her being a toilet cleaner and caretaker who happens to be an heir to royalty - Hello, Cinderella!
Eddie Redmaye's turn as the psychopathic bad guy is right out of Voldemort's guide to acting - I was expecting him to go on about the boy who lived and how much he hated Dumbledore!
Some of the music and places they visited looked right out of Star Wars, even to the point that my brother leaned over to me and said, "Are they visiting Coruscant?"
Some of the actions sequences were breathtakingly fast and spectacular - I am really not sure if it was because I was in the first row of the cinema or that these action sequences were really fast and blurry - similar to Transformers when things were all happening with completely loose camera shots. It was dizzying and spectacular but I didn't know what was happening and only got my head back when everything stopped and the characters took a break for some much needed dialogue.
The movie itself though is not that bad - I had a few grumbles outlined above, but generally it's quite watchable. I think the lack of originality in the story is apparent, but the world in which it is carried out is fascinating, but it just doesn't go any further than the main characters. There is so much scope for a franchise on this, but I think the Washowski's slightly missed the mark. Even so, I have to say I did quite like it and it was no where near as bad as I feared.
If you like Sci Fi you will like this - but it's nothing you haven't seen before, and I think that's where it is a let down. It's the starter of the meal before you get to the signature dish that is Star Wars in December. We need some good space sci fi movies and this will do for now until the much anticipated Star Wars will come and show them how it's done. I think the 3d version would come across much better than the 2d version I saw. Still, it's worth checking out if you want to see a special effects extravaganza in space.
Jupiter Ascending is out at all good cinemas now.
POPSCORE: 7/10
SECOND OPINION: Mark came to see this with me and didn't think the same as me; but he thought the story was very weak too - POPSCORE: 6/10
ANOTHER OPINION: Clare came to see this with me and gave it a respectable - POPSCORE: 7/10
What am I talking about? Jupiter Ascending movie
Where do I find out more? www.jupiterascending.com
If you liked this, try - The Matrix movies, Titan AE, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Wars movies, Serenity
Where do I find out more? www.jupiterascending.com
If you liked this, try - The Matrix movies, Titan AE, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Wars movies, Serenity
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