Despite have a strong trailer (see below) and synopsis, The Wachowkis’ Jupiter Ascending went on to disappoint critics when it had it’s cinematic release back in February 2015, which went on to slow its box office success as many opted not to catch the film at the cinema. Now it has been released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download the big question is whether it’s worth watching at all, or do the bad reviews add up to too many negatives to make it worth the effort at all.
The reality is that there are so many things wrong with the film that it’s sort of difficult to know where to start reviewing it, but perhaps the biggest criticism it’s received is for having a poor plot that lends too much from The Wachowskis biggest hit, The Matrix. There’s definitely an element of truth in this, but the biggest issue for us is that it mixes sci-fi and fantasy elements too much to create a silly hybrid that sits somewhere between The Matrix, Star Wars and Alice In Wonderland, which just doesn’t work on any level.
However, if you strip the plot back to its fundamental story of diamond in the rough who goes from house cleaner to interplanetary queen due to her genetic make-up, you actually have a pretty decent idea to work with. The problems come as a result of the over-the-top embellishments that have been added to this in an attempt to give it a big, bad sinister plot. We don’t want to give too much away about this, just in case you are planning to watch the film still, but the long and short of it is that it doesn’t really work, resulting in an over-baked story.
It’s not just the plot that feels overworked either with dialogue, acting and special effects all trying too hard and ultimately missing the mark as a result. Nothing feels real about the entire production with duff lines delivered badly. It’s not that we blame the cast as such, although there are more than a few bad performances, it’s more that the direction seems to have failed them, sending the majority in the wrong direction for the most part.
Sean Bean (The Martian) looks pretty embarrassed about his part in the film – a man-bee hybrid that has zero bee-like tendencies, apart from having a hive of them in his house – in all but a few of his scenes. While Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan) throw themselves in into the roles of Caine Wise, a genetically engineered soldier sent to collect the genetic reincarnation of an intergalactic queen, and Jupiter Jones, the toilet cleaner who turns out to be the ruler of worlds, they can’t shake the fact that they have to work withing the construct of the film, which is fundamentally flawed.
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything) puts in his worst performance to-date as Balam Abrasax, the emperor of the space conquest that controls the universe. He tries a very distinct malevolent style in terms of his voice and mannerisms and they’re just too far fetched to make sense and miss out on the subtler, more refined qualities that can make a baddie word well.
The casting feels a little ramshackle at times as The Wachowskis throw in the likes of James D’Arcy and Bae Doona in relatively small roles, seemigly just because they worked together in Cloud Atlas. They’re not bad in them as such, it’s just that they look a little out of place. Then there are the nothing roles of Titus and Kalique Abrasax, Balam’s competitive brother and sister, played by Tuppence Middleton (Black Mirror Series 2) and Douglas Booth (Pride And Prejudice And Zombies), which just fail to have the presence to have any real impact on the film.
At times, Jupiter Ascending feels very much like it was created by two very different people, highlighting the possible difficulties that can come from this kind of collaboration. While one of The Wachowskis is working from the Star Wars playbook, the other is fixated on the looking glass, and both of them have found it difficult not to include an element of Matrix conceptualisation into the action, to the detriment of the film.
There’s also an intentional oddness about the film as it tries to be different, without living up to its Brazil-ian aspirations, despite the cameo from Terry Gilliam (The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus). It worked quite well in Cloud Atlas, but feels a bit too forces in their latest film. The same can be said of the special effects, which range from impressive space visuals to weak light trails for Caine’s flying in-line skate shoes, which appear to be thrown into the film without them being given much thought.
Going back to the original question about whether or not Jupiter Ascending is worth watching now that it’s been released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download, the answer will depend on your personal preferences. It’s not a good film on any level really, so if you’re a big sci-fi fan you might want to catch it just to tick it off the list, but if you’re not then there are plenty of other good movies to watch instead.
Jupiter Ascending review: 2.3/5
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