Jupiter Ascending

For five years, I've put off watching this movie due to unfavorable reviews. Quarantine had me desperate for new content though so I gave it a shot and was not disappointed.

It's not high cinema, and there are certainly elements "borrowed" from other franchises... but the cinematography, acting, and storyline were all excellent. The SciFi "tech" and style was well thought out and original. It's a fun movie and just about the right length for the genre. If you liked Stargate, Blade Runner, or Dune (heck, even The Last Starfighter) you'll like Jupiter Ascending.

Sometimes I really don't get IMDb and critics I avoided this movie like the plague as it had such low ratings by users and critics, so I thought it would be a complete waste of time But I've upgraded my home projector recently, and it supports 3D, and since then, I'm having fun in trying this format. Wachowski's always make great visuals, so I jumped into it because of the 3D, but with very low expectations regarding the movie To my complete surprise, it turned out the movie was very good, in the sense it was highly entertaining The story has it's flaws, like any regular movie, but it's not a complete nonsense like some people try to sell you Can't understand how rubbish movies like Fast&Furious 7 and Iron Man 3 make millions at the box office and have such good ratings, where this one flopped and has such poor ones I mean even complete trash like Godzilla, Robocop (2014), John Carter and San Andreas have a higher score than Jupiter Ascending!!! What a hell is going on with you people?

Jupiter is a fun ride. I love this kind of movie. Amazing visuals,great SciFi story line. I don't understand why people hate on this film so much. Sure there are some run of the mill plot points but i still really liked this movie, maybe people just love to hate these days. Not the worst film I've ever seen by far. I'd say ignore the haters and give it a go, make up your own mind. This film isn't in my top ten but i didn't hate it. I get the feeling that there are 'Matrix' haters stalking everything the Wachowski's do now to hate on them cause they didn't like they way the Matrix ended. FYI i like their ending. Am i the only one? I watch movies like i read books, even tho' i might not like the ending, i respect the storytellers right to tell the story they want to tell.

I'm not sure how to start this review so I'll just get right into it: This movie isn't good. It makes no sense. There is no room to get immersed in this world because there is no story to relate to. It's all just stuff happening; fluff. Beautiful, well made fluff mind you, but at its core this movie is a steaming hot mess.

Here's the plot from what I gathered: Mila Kunis is suddenly the majesty of the Earth and has to protect it from a bunch of rich douchebags that live in Jupiter's atmosphere who want to use it for harvesting grounds or something. It's a dumb plot, and every scene that tries to move the plot forward is a scene wasted. The only interesting parts of this movie are the visuals and Channing Tatum's character, but even he is given absolutely no character development. He's just a badass space agent, or something. I don't even remember.

The characters end up the same way they began - there was no journey to redemption or revelation for anyone. It was just do this, do that, stop this, go home, the end. And they try to include multiple stories, like Mila Kunis' relationship with her family (boooring); Caine (Tatum) and Stinger's (Sean Bean) history (wholly underdeveloped), the whole villain arc...

The villains in this movie are spoiled brats. Seriously. They're not scary, they're not intimidating, there was no point in the movie where I was like "oh man sh*t is about to go down"; there was just no intrigue. Their motives were all over the place. It's not worth trying to piece together every plot point they throw into the movie because it will just lead to confusion and disappointment, and eventually frustration when you realize how much potential was wasted in creating this massive universe. The lizards looked really cool. Why not have more of them? Oh we're just going to focus on the playboy brat now, okay.

I really wanted to care about this universe. It has a Star Wars vibe in parts, like the "royal" wedding scene and the space battles, but there were no good characters to experience this adventure with. You're just watching things happen with no consequences, or at least none you cared about.

The acting was fine in this movie. Channing Tatum and Sean Bean in particular gave great performances, and Eddie Redmayne as the primary antagonist was decent as well. Yeah, he's an Academy Award winner, and as much as I hate to say it I have not seen The Theory of Everything yet but I loved him in Les Mis so I was really hoping he would save this movie. Unfortunately the material he's given is absolute garbage, so in an effort to make the character stand out, Redmayne give him a weird, eerie, whisper voice that was akin to a hundred year old man trying to force words out from the back of his throat. But hey, I think it worked. The guy is completely unlikeable so might as well give him a unique trait to remember him by. Good on Mr. Redmayne because he succeeded. The only things I will remember about this movie are the cool visuals, the wasted potential, and his creepy voice.

Don't see this movie. Unless you want to see some really great CGI for a couple hours, which can be found in much better places by the way, you won't find anything worth salvaging from Jupiter Ascending. It was a nice effort but ultimately a swing and a miss.

I saw Jupiter Ascending tonight (after a VERY long wait I might add). Sadly it is not in the vain of other Wachowski films in terms of thought- provoking subject matter; however, I feel this film is being very unfairly criticized.

No: the subject matter is not as deep or profound as in The Matrix, V for Vendetta, or the masterful Cloud Atlas. But it was never advertised to be that kind of film--it's a solid blockbuster movie (with plenty of room for sequels and/or prequels). I'd see it again!

If you're considering watching this film, but hesitate after reading the same scathing reviews that I came across, just consider what interests you about the movie: if you're looking a movie with a complex plot and lots of underlying messages, this might not be the best choice. It's a blockbuster film pure and simple. A good one! But a very typical blockbuster/action/romance movie.