Jupiter Ascending: Wachowski Commending Film review

Jupiter Jones hates her life. Stuck in same routine working for her family’s cleaning company until the day that Caine arrives from another planet and she finds out her true heritage. She is faced with the Abrasax family and the reality that our existence and future is greatly different than anyone else on Earth realises. Can Jupiter make the right choices to save the ones she cares about?

This film is an action/sci-fi, although I don’t know if anyone would guess. Mila Kunis (Blood Ties) plays Jupiter Jones and I would say that she does this well. She develops from toilet cleaner, unable to budget her wages, to Entitled very quickly and still manages to maintain her awkwardness and love for dogs. Enter our hero, Caine played by Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street). Tatum plays a former solider now lone hunter who’s DNA has been spliced with a wolves, but definitely looks more like Lister from Red Dwarf! He has been sent to Earth by Titus to find Jupiter to save her from his siblings. Again the acting here is nothing you haven’t seen before from Tatum but that is not necessarily a bad thing, it feels like these roles were written for these type of actors.

In my opinion, it is the supporting cast that have more depth to them and make this film more interesting. Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings Trilogy) who plays Stinger, for example. He is an ex-military now civilian on earth wanting to regain his rank whilst being able to look after his family. Beans ability to play someone torn between moral dilemmas and then accept the outcome makes him the perfect pick for Stinger.

On the other side of the equation we have our three antagonists Balem, Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), and his brother and sister: Titus, Douglas Booth (Noah), and Kalique, Tuppence Middleton (Tormented). These up-and-coming actors and actress’ play off each other very well, each in their own style. Redmayne has gone from playing kind and genital Hawking to a one-minded businessman whose profits are being affected by the Jupiters’ presence, and he appears to make this role his own far to easily.

His brother played by Booth on the other hand has maintained his well-educated persona in a way that you are happy to despise. These two are offset by Middleton’s brief role as their sister trying to befriend Jupiter before making her move. Although she doesn’t get much time on screen I feel it’s probably the right amount for her character and Middleton definitely uses these moments well.

Put together, these four set up a series of plot twist to keep attention and help our main characters though a semi predictable storyline.

It is not just the acting that helped me though the film; Michael Giacchinos’ ability to capture the feel of a film in his scores is sublime. This is the same man whose music brought a tear to my eye in Up. The use of his music here is evidently different, it hasn’t be used to bridge the gaps in silence, instead the dynamic soundtrack maintains a pace throughout the film.

I do want to make a quick but big kudos to the effects team, using green screens, wires and prosthetics they have made interesting battles and landscapes and vastly different species that make it all look fantastic.

TRAILER

It is interesting to watch Andy and Lana Wachowski trying to get the same complexity that can be seen in their previous films, such as the Matrix Trilogy, into one film. It is clear where they attempted this for example in a series of short scenes depicting the different offices in their bureaucratic system. I hope they intended this to be a light-hearted representation of a system that is currently in place because I cant read much more into this.

The problem is I am unsure what is meant to be the main part to this story, the romance or the sci-fi adventure. Take away all the “I love him but I cant tell him” and you are left with quite a different story of genetic predisposition, choice of how to improve a society and its repercussions.

If I’m honest I’m still trying to decide how much I liked this film, but I do know I liked it. As an experience it was nice to watch and listen too with appropriate acting but the story appears a bit too sentimental in the wrong places. Maybe this is me thinking too much and wanting it to be something more as it has the Wachowski name.

Written by Chuckie

Twitter: @ChuckieGinger

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Brian Ferdinando: Film Critic

Brian Ferdinando aka Chuckie joined us and has delivered outstanding work. The Gaming Vlogger is a sharp hand with a camera (In front and behind it) with slick editing skills too.

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