Jupiter Ascending (2015)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Jessie]

...

[Frozen]

This is a movie that would have been quite good as a Sci-Fi channel original movie, maybe even a mini-series. It needed more time to explain its universe. So many unanswered questions about the royal family, the planets they harvest, who invented the anti-aging serum, why their mother was killed, came back to life, etc.

 

Also the romance between Tatum and Mila's characters was way too rushed. It was like Tauriel and Kili all over again. You just met this person and now you are in love with them? And willing to die for them? Why?

 

The acting was good and the visually you could not have asked for a better movie. It was stunning to look at. But the script was very poor and the characters needed to be fleshed out. It would have been nice to have known their histories. That's why I think it would have fared better a tv mini-series. 

 

C+ Go see it if you love Sci-Fi and aren't expecting much.

[Goffe]

lol James, he voted an A and he hasn't even seen it yet

[Goffe]

The Wachowski's craft saves the movie. Give the awful script to anyone else that is less than a great director and JA would be a catastrophe of epic proportions.

 

The Wachowski should call a real screenwriting to help them to develop their awesome ideas or get back to smaller films like Bound. Either way I would be happy.

 

Special praises to Redmayne and to Giacchino, who composed a beautiful score, maybe his best and that's really saying something.

 

I would love to see a JA with more politics and minimum clunky romance.

 

this tweet sums up my thoughts  very well

Eric Walkuski @ericwalkuski  ·  59m 59 minutes ago

Jupiter Ascending is so bad its good, and also good good, and also bad bad. Never a dull moment.

 

 

65/100

[Ethan Hunt]

I was gonna say C but I'll say B- because Channing Tatum with wings

[BadAtGender]

It could be said that Jupiter Ascending is a failure. It's true that the film doesn't quite achieve its very lofty goals, but despite that it comes out to be both entertaining and interesting.

 

One of the easiest comparisons is to the original Star Wars. Like that, JA attempts to be a franchise-starting space opera with huge amounts of worldbuilding and a fairly straight-forward chosen one plot to carry the weight. The problem is that JA doesn't quite manage to trim down to just the right level of worldbuilding nor does it utilize the simplicity of the plot to its advantage. It comes out uneven and never entirely sure whether it has to play up the expansive grandeur or the straightforward story at a given moment.

 

The film is mostly brought down because the script is the weakest part of the Wachowskis repertoire. If they had a partner who could improve the dialogue and fix the pacing issues, JA would go from interesting and entertaining to brilliant. It's really a shame, because the ideas they play with are engaging (as is the case with all their films), but the script just can't quite carry that weight.

 

Despite the problems, there are a number of things Jupiter Ascending does well, impeccably so.

 

For starters, Michael Giacchino's score is off the charts amazing. It's a soaring accomplishment that does take the film to a whole new level. Even without a post-credits sequence, I felt I had to sit through them just to hear more of his work.

 

Then there's the world-building and production design. Jupiter Ascending is gorgeous to behold. The ships and weapons are interesting and unique: they both look new and fresh but still make sense in their design so we understand why they work they way they do, without explicit descriptions of that. The races are all visually stimulating and engaging. The planets give a strong sense of the grandeur of the people inhabiting them.

 

There's a strong pulp sensibility that flows throughout the film. It's almost as if the Wachowskis took ideas that would be at home in a pulp serial adventure of the '30s and put them through 21st century film techniques. The result is lavish and fun, that blends a feeling of drama with a bit of hokeyness that still works.

 

I mean, Channing Tatum's character as rocket skates. And that is AWESOME.

 

It really works because the Wachowskis are amazingly adept at directing action scenes. They construct them with a lot of interacting elements that could lead to a lot of confusing clutter, but they have sure hands so that at no point did I feel overwhelmed or confused by what was going on. The same cannot be said of most tentpoles nowadays, which tend to be either sensory overload or oddly distancing with little room in between. Jupiter Ascending manages to strike a nearly perfect balance.

 

Many people will dismiss the film quickly, because of the issues the script. That would be a mistake, because this (or any) film is far more than just the words on the page. It's a problem that does weigh it down, but not critically, as there is plenty that remains that provides an entertaining ride.

 

For me, at least, it's far better for something to be an interesting failure than to be a boring success.

 

4/5

[chasmmi]

This is a film with twists and turns and sub-plots so complex that the filmmakers seemed to decide letting us in on the plot was not required.

 

The special effects are very good but I found myself just accepting they were happening as there was so real story within them, it was just Mila Kunis falling off of things. Many of the scenes also included my pet hate of having obligatory 3D scenes because 3d than because it was the best way of filming the action and as annoying as that may be in 3d, watching in 2D makes it infuriating.

 

Parts of this felt like Alice in Wonderland as there is so much going on with all the characters in the film, yet you are stuck following one person who shoud be the main focus of the story yet is basically just there and letting things happen to her.

 

This film isn't brain-meltingly bad, but it fails so much and so often that they couldn't even manage to kill off Sean Bean.

[Dragon]

Loved it 7.5

[Donald]

Horrid film!

2/10!

the 2 is for the vfx!

Edited February 7, 2015 by Donald

[Ethan Hunt]

Horrid film!

2/10!

the 2 is for the vfx!

You actually watched it!

[bapi]

Jupiter Ascending was so good that I really wanted to take some car and hit a wall. Like: "Fuck it, my life has no value anyway". Awful, awful movie.

 

2/10

[filmlover]

Oh dear. Where does one even begin with Jupiter Ascending? This is the rare movie that raises so many questions: what in the world could've endeared Warner Bros. (after seeing the movie, it's easy to come to the conclusion they suddenly delayed the film's release for seven months on such short notice because they knew they had a dog on their hands) into investing $175M into this fiasco? What could've possibly attracted the handful of talented participants in the cast to this disaster of a screenplay? And, most of all, what in the hell happened to the Wachowskis? It's almost depressing to think they have gone from the wonders of The Matrix, an all-time favorite of mine that's just as stunning now as it was 16 years ago, to this. This isn't just arguably the worst movie the duo have ever made (even a tonal mess like Speed Racer looks like a masterpiece compared to this); this is arguably the worst sci-fi picture since the infamous megaturd Battlefield Earth. Of course, as one could expect from the duo, the movie looks incredible: many of the sets are beautifully-designed and a number of costumes are eye-catching. Unfortunately, the film's visual flawlessness comes at the expense of everything else, from coherent storytelling to solid pacing to interesting characters. Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis find their natural charisma completely robbed from them as they inhabit characters that are as flat as cardboard. Tatum, covered in silly make-up that makes him look like a humanoid animal, underplays so much that one senses he regretted taking the project on by the time it was too late to pull out, while Kunis is merely called upon to look/act in disbelief at everything that's happening around her. The two don't have any chemistry either, which is likely more a fault of the script then the actors (put these two in a comedy and I'm sure the sparks would fly). But they both get it easy compared to Eddie Redmayne, who has gone from giving one of the best performances of 2014 to giving what's sure to be among the most embarrassing of 2015. Redmayne literally gnaws on the scenery as if it were Skittles, as he alternates between whispering his atrocious lines and shouting them while pouting and stomping around. He better be hoping Oscar voters don't see this humiliating piece of work. Nobody else is any better: Sean Bean can't do much with an underdeveloped part that does whatever the script asks, while Douglas Booth is only notable for being possibly the prettiest "pretty boy" to ever walk the face of the Earth (and because the movie completely forgets about his sinister character after setting him up as a main baddy). The Wachowskis are far too talented to completely write-off even after a disaster like this (given this film's poor box office, though, their chances have probably run out), and there are still signs that they could find their way and rediscover what made their biggest success so beloved. One can only hope. They certainly couldn't go any lower. D

Edited February 8, 2015 by filmlover

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Great visual, a spectacular score, and a good concept. I like the concept of the film but the screenplay was terrible and someone else beside the Wachowskis. The film would have worked better with one coherence villain. All the villain seemed why spoiled rich kids. I would rather had  a stereotypical evil ruler villain that just wanted to harvest the earth. The acting was cringe worthy but most if not all character were flat.  I would have like a better if in the first five minutes they would explained the the whole universe and all the splice stuff instead showing her parents get together. 

2/5

Edited February 8, 2015 by Snoopy of Suburbia

[Joel M]

Sadly this is Wachowski's weakest movie alongside Matrix Revolutions but it doesn't deserve the hate it's getting from critics. It's just an easy target for mockery because of how insane it is and because it is a huge bomb financially. The biggest problem of the movie for me was how much it feels plotwise like a trilogy compressed in 2 hours. They movie has no breathing room, the plot is just too much and it suffocates the entire movie especially in the middle part after they leave earth. The other problem was Mila Kunis. She's a good actress and no one expected her to give an oscar worthy performance here but she could be memorable or at least servicable. But she's just there, she can't make you care and she's the main character. 

 

But even if it not quite works, I prefer this movie to many sci-fi extravaganzas because it is so personal. It's Wachowski from start to finish. Every frame is filled with their colour porn style, their tons of influences from every kitschy sci-fi ever made and their romantic approach to an anti-capitalistic message. And they are a lot of memorable scenes in the movie, my favorite being the bureaucracy in space bit. All the other cast members are game for this ridiculous story but no one more than Eddie Redmayne. He throws himself in this movie with reckless abandon and he is glorious. I don't think he deserves to win an oscar for the theory of everything but if he does, I'll cheer for him for what he did here and for how non self-serious he seems to be. He's a great actor.

 

Although this is probably their weakest effort I had a great time in the theatre and I won't forget this movie after a few days. So I'm game for whatever Wachowskis are going to do after the obvious end of their big budget era. Also I don't get why people were rooting for this movie's failure as soon as they smelled blood. I'm not talking about here since this is a bo forum so it's pretty common to rooting for or against a movie's success. I'm talking about many members of the online press who spend their days writing thinkpieces about how hollywood never takes a risk and at the same time were so eager for this to bomb after the date switch because of the huge budget. Did they have Warner stocks? Warner is Warner and will be fine. 

 

B-

[Incarnadine]

I gave it a B, although it was actually more of a B-.

 

Loved the visuals, absolutely amazing.

Casting was, lukewarm. I actually felt the supporting characters were cast pretty well, but the main cast... not so much. I kept thinking Cumberbatch or Fassbender would have been a better fit than Redmayne. I like Kunis, but her range is limited (to be fair, the character as written was really weak, straight up damsel in distress, but she looked really good in some of the outfits).

I'm a bit mixed on Tatum, I think he was ok, but those damn ears were distracting making him seem worse than he was.

 

The writing was the weak point. Many parts dragged, a bit too much cheesy dialogue (although much of it felt intentionally cheesy), and they skipped over way too much. Seriously, after going on about the Harvest and showing the aftermath of a planet that had been Harvested they absolutely had to show a flashback of a planet as it was being Harvested. I know I was expecting to see a Harvest.

 

Ah well, there was the potential there for a truly great sci-fi movie, but it ended up merely mildly good.

[Bishop54]

The score and a few visual effect was the only thing from rescuing this from an F, I gave it a D...but a D- is more fitting.

[CJohn]

A stunning sci-fi masterpiece by the Wachowskis. Tatum, Bean and Redmayne were all great in their roles. Redmayne should have had a bigger role. His campiness and over the top performance was terrific. I also really liked Booth and Kunis, and Middleton. The action was phenomenal. The action scene in the skies of Chicago was one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. The special effects were magnificent. I honestly believe the final 20 minutes or so were flawless. 

 

9/10

 

My main complains were the lack of Redmayne in the 1st and 2nd act and some stories were left unresolved and should have been explained better (I am mostly talking about everything surrounding the Tuppence Middleton character).

[Gopher]

One of the most memorably bad movies I've ever seen. Aside from the art direction nothing about this movie works and in that regard it's utterly amazing. 

 

Mind you, Speed Racer was one of my favorite films of 2008 and Cloud Atlas one one of my favorites of 2012. 

Edited February 9, 2015 by Gopher

[Cmasterclay]

One of the most memorably bad movies I've ever seen. Aside from the art direction nothing about this movie works and in that regard it's utterly amazing. 

 

Mind you, Speed Racer was one of my favorite films of 2008 and Cloud Atlas one one of my favorites of 2012. 

Man, I HAVE to see this shit now. I'm excited. It just sounds so awful and nuts in the best way possible.