Jupiter Ascending

[baal666]

Before the movie :

Let's start 2015's reviews with the latest movie from the Wachowskis, Jupiter Ascending. I wasn't sure i'd watch this movie because what i saw in the trailers, pictures and articles didn't appeal to me but i decided to give it a shot because i was also hesitating to watch Cloud Atlas when it came out and i ended loving it. So Jupiter Ascending : Not much interested to see it but hoping to be surprised by it.

Movie Plot :

Jupiter Jones is a poor caretaker unhappy with her life but what she doesn't know is that she has a greater destiny.

Earth and other planets were seeded by an alien royal family to produce something (i try to stay vague to not spoil much, the movie is already empty enough without telling everything) when the matriarch died, her three children are fighting for the inheritance.

Jupiter will be a key to solve their argument, that's why one of the children will send Caine Wise, a genetically modified warrior, to find her but his brothr and sister are also trying to reach Jupiter to serve their interests.

My impressions :

+ The visuals, lots of colours and designs. The universe is rich and beautiful, even though some aliens look...we'll get to that later
+ The action, at least this looked cool.
+ The gravity boots, Don't know why i realy liked the way the character moved with this.

- Generic "chosen one to save earth" story with flat characters.
- Jupiter, whiny & gullible damsel in distress. I was hoping for something else but nope !
- Caine accepted the mission because he wants to get something back for himself and his mentor, and that is useless to the story, pure symbolism.
- The three heirs. One is an hedonistic pretty boy, another is a generic brunette who just aspire to sta young and the last one is an ambitious prick talking like he has a throat cancer.
- The aliens. Just a few examples : big gargoyle/lizard, a guy who reminded me of a Who in How the Grinch stole Chrostmas and an elephant faced dude. I like how they included little greys though and some characters designs were good.
- The bureaucracy scene. This reminded me of a part of the twelve Tasks of Asterix. Funny in Asterix, what the fuck in Jupiter Ascending.

To conclude, Jupiter Ascending is disappointing. It looks great, a lot of work went into creating this universe but not much was done for the story, the characters are blank, the dialogues are empty. It's a teen movie done without much effort. I would suggest you to wait for the dvd/blue ray/vod and watch it when there's nothing on tv with a beer in one hand and popcorn in the other.

<big><big>4/10</big></big>

On a side note, i just watched a critic saying people didn't understand it, "The Wachowski did this on purpose to show the young that an all action movie always going fast and jumping around isn't all that good", maybe i missed something as i didn't see that and on that i call bullshit ! I think the Wachowskis missed their shot, you don't spend 175 million to do shit on purpose.
I hope there will be an extended edition that will show more of the characters, giving them more depth maybe it would turn this in a decent action sci-fi film...maybe.