Jupiter Ascending Movie Review

Ever walk out of a film and ask yourself, "Why did that happen?"

Jupiter Ascending is the latest movie from the Wachowski's and stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne. Mila Kunis' character Jupiter is the heir to something very important in the universe, and a corrupt feuding family will do anything in their power to make sure she can not retrieve it. To summarise, I really was not a fan of this movie and I finally understand why it was pushed to a February release; it's a colossal mess.

If you know me, you should know that I love science fiction action movies. The Wachowski's, despite their recent run of form, still directed one of my all time favourite films within that genre, the Matrix. Plus, I'm a fan of almost every big name actor who signed on to create this film. I should've loved this movie, instead I found myself almost falling asleep in an uninteresting, un-engaging melodrama who's faults lie solely with the screenplay and the writing.

While both Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum do their best with the roles they have and end up both being functional at worst, their characters simply are not interesting because they're surrounded by poor writing. For example, within the first 30 minutes Mila Kunis has witnessed a lot of life-changing paranormal, alien activity, and her reaction to all of it is stupidly unrealistic. She just goes along with it, hardly questioning anything. Her character throughout the film is faced with some tough, earth-shattering decisions which will alter the future of the Earth and all humanity, but she fails to convey any emotion at all.

But the most annoying thing about Jupiter Ascending was the lack of a strong female lead. All Mila Kunis does throughout the movie is make dumb decisions and then has to sit and wait for elf-eared Channing Tatum to rescue her, because she is incapable of doing anything herself. I'm disappointed with the Wachowski's in that sense; why they can't write a strong female lead I don't know.

Eddie Redmayne, on the brink of winning an Oscar for his mesmerising and committed portrayal of Stephen Hawking, delivers one of the worst acting performances in recent memory as the film's primary antagonist. I don't know why, but for some reason his character talks like a raspy 90 year old with a sore throat. His motivations as a villain are also one-note, goofy Hollywood cheese; he wants power, yay!

While the Wachowski's deliver some jaw dropping visual effects and an adrenaline inducing action sequence early on in the film, the rest of the film's visual quality becomes inconsistent. The rest of the action sequences play out generically and at times it feels like you're being water-boarded by a barrage of light and sound effects. The character designs of some of the aliens are laughable as well, ranging from crocodile dude with wings to midget elephant co pilot. It's hysterical.

Jupiter Ascending could have been a success with the talent involved and the visual scope it could have offered. It could've been a fun space adventure. Instead we get a film with poor storytelling, generic characters, rehashed action sequences and dialogue ranging from boring and bogged down in exposition to developing an extremely forced, cringe-worthy romance. It was boring, uninteresting and un-impactful, and a huge disappointment:


Rating - D

Thanks for reading,
Matt