Jupiter Ascending is a sci-fi movie directed by the
Wachowskis that pays homage to a lot of the movies that came before it. There are elements of Star Wars, Dune, Cloud
Atlas, and even Brazil. The cast is charismatic and a lot of fun to watch. It
is a clever space opera that hopefully will get its audience despite the poor
reviews.
Jupiter Jones, played by Mila Kunis, is a cleaning woman who
hates her life. After going to sell her eggs at a fertility clinic, she is
attacked by aliens. Caine Wise, played
by Channing Tatum, saves her. Jupiter discovers that she is a member of the royal
family, Abrasax, who control various planets and reduce the populations into a
youth serum. Jupiter becomes entwined in
assassination plots and power feuds.
Mila Kunis is cute as a button. She is a strong female
protagonist that makes the story very relatable. Channing Tatum is good at
playing a heroic space adventurer. Eddie
Redmanye as Balem, the evil dynastic ruler, hams it up like a melodrama
villain. Everyone is enjoyable in his or her part and make the movie
entertaining.
The costumes are nothing short of amazing. The sets and the
designs of this universe are unique and wildly fun. From the dinosaur guards to
the ships that resemble Renaissance buildings, there was clearly a great deal
of vision put into this movie. It was
especially hilarious to see how even though the worlds are incredibly high tech
they still have to deal with slow and inefficient bureaucrats.
If you are a fan of sci-fi movies you will likely enjoy this
movie. It is a smart movie that delivers
on action with characters that really are enjoyable. It would be interesting to
see if this grows into a series like the Matrix movies. It is certainly worth checking out for a good
time at the movies.
