Film Review: Jupiter Ascending (2015) ("4K" HDR Version)

I never saw Jupiter Ascending when it was first released. As I've siad in prior film reviews; I don't go into things with much expectation. This is no exception; and other than knowing that the Wachowskis, responsible for The Matrix are involved.

Jupiter Ascending begins in a scattered way, we see the birth of Mila Kunis' as Jupiter, followed by grown up scenes of her cleaning toilets. We cut to a disjointed sequence of people chatting about Earth as an asset, dressed in majestic finery; then a science-fiction battle fought by cyberpunk looking types.

There's a raft of complex looking visual effects on the way, and even though the film wasn't originally mastered in 4K (it was just up-scaled for the 4K lets sell it again money making activities that everyone likes to do) - it looks pretty stunning.

It is inconsistent in its visual splendour, with "Earth" scenes painting a gritty picture of the poverty in which Jupiter and her family live. Enter Channing Tatum, and his character, Caine, who explains what the fuck is going on: They, other species out in the universe, want to kill Jupiter.

_{Complex visual design throughout makes it a very pretty film. This doesn't mean the story is.}

It looks and sounds amazing. There's not much narrative built through these action scenes, however; which is a real missed opportunity. The lore of the technology could be explained while Tatum is flailing his arms about like a spastic controlling the inexplicable machinery.

You quickly learn that this is not a tale about technology and machinery, it just builds the setting up around the characters. Kunis is set to inherit the Earth through her genetic background, and a drama plays out amid the backdrop of science-fictiony action.

This is where the story starts to fall apart and become scattered. It isn't scattered because there's complicated socio-political preening happening constantly, but because the film's pace favours action over dialogue. When there is dialogue, it is the bare essential to get the story across, and lines are delivered in a way that doesn't match the splendour of the visuals.

So much work went into the special effects, and while the Wachowskis are well known for this; they're also known for their speculative plot lines and unrelenting action sequences. We've got unrelenting action. We've got great special effects - the plot misses the mark on speculative; and devolves into a drama where the whole universe is just the source of profit for intergalactic buffoons. There's a few choice moments where the drama is both personal and global; but this just doesn't hit the mark very well.

It needed to be segmented into more films to allow the plot to come together; spread out, and for the universe to develop proper. As one of the characters in the film states "time is the most valuable commodity;" the Wachowskis could learn from this. We don't need a drawn out action sequence taking away so much time when narrative and deeper exposition could have made the film so much better.