Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending

  Hello all, and welcome to my review of Jupiter Ascending! 😀

  Starring: Mila Kunis (Jupiter Jones), Channing Tatum (Caine Wise), Sean Bean (Stinger Apini), Eddie Redmayne (Balem Abrasax), Douglas Booth (Titus Abrasax), Tuppence Middleton (Kalique Abrasax)

Plot (taken from IMDb):

“Jupiter Jones was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning toilets and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine, a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along – her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos. – Written by Production“

Trailer:

Characters:

Mila Kunis (Jupiter Jones) – She’s pretty tough, especially up against all the craziness surrounding her. Even when she’s afraid, she pushes through it. I also love that she follows her heart, even though it gets her into trouble a lot of times. 🙂

Channing Tatum (Caine Wise) – He’s the quiet badass hero type, all broody and aloof, lol. I love how loyal he is as the movie progresses, and the way he’s always looking out for Jupiter. I wish there was a little more about his past, however. I have some unanswered questions where that is concerned, but I love him anyway. 😀

Sean Bean (Stinger Apini) – An old comrade of Caine’s, who walks a fine line with his moral compass at times. Generally a good guy.

Eddie Redmayne (Balem Abrasax) – A wonderfully creeptastic villain. He’s definitely got some screws loose, and you can really, really tell. Along with how evil he is, his tone of voice and manner of speaking creeps me out big time. *shudder* Eddie Redmayne did a good job here.

Douglas Booth (Titus Abrasax) – Just as twisted as Balem, but his brand of crazy isn’t as readily apparent. He’s more sleazy and self-absorbed, even if he claims to have good intentions.

Tuppence Middleton (Kalique Abrasax) – Also just as twisted as Balem and Titus, but her brand of crazy is all about her vanity. She only cares about herself, and how to stay young and beautiful forever.

Review:

I won’t lie. I was scared going into this.

After all, this is a Wochowski movie. And those of you who have been reading my reviews for a while know what that means… You know about the biggest movie that got inducted into my cussword hall of fame.

Around these parts, “Matrix 3” is like if the F-bomb married one of the big C-bombs and had some unspeakable monstrosity of a cussword baby.

But I had to watch this one. I saw romance and flashy action scenes in the trailer. Surely it couldn’t be a “festering [Matrix 3] of a [movie.]” (Lol, 100 points if you can name that quote I just mangled!) It was like a compulsion. I had to place my hopes in the hands of the Wochowski’s once again.

I think I watched the first 20-30 minutes of the movie through my fingers, like I would with a horror movie. It wasn’t until I was about an hour in that I allowed myself to consider that I  may have been wrong in my fears after all.

Let me amend: I haz’d (past tense of “haz” I suppose) a *tentative* happee.

The more I let myself enjoy the movie, ignoring those looming premonitions of Matrix 3 level atrocities, the more into the characters and plot I was able to get.

So, after having watched it with a somewhat open mind, with moments of extreme pessimism mixed in – I can say I wholeheartedly disagree with all the critics that are saying this movie is crap.

To each their own, but I think this was a lot of fun. 😀 The plot was interesting, the characters were unique and likable, and the fights were exciting. The landscapes were really different and pretty too.

Jupiter and Caine had really good chemistry. I kind of feel like this movie is more of a romance first and sci-fi/fantasy second.

Which isn’t a bad thing at all in my book. 🙂

I love how they were constantly looking out for each other. Even though there were a lot of misunderstandings, it was obvious how they really felt.

The fights and action were well done, and the tech was all interesting and fun. I wish they’d done more with the flying motorcycle, but Caine’s weapons and fighting style made up for it. And also – all kinds of explosions! 😀

Although the fight scenes were good, they were a little shaky in spots. I think this is mainly because it all flew by so quickly that I missed some of what was going on.

Sometimes the air skating looked a little silly too, but these are flying people dammit. Flying. People.

We all know I’m able to suspend my disbelief for flying people for some reason.

Shaky or not, these scenes were still fun. 🙂

However, there were some unanswered questions at the end. What happened with the “industry?” Did it shut down? And why did Cain do what he did so long ago? Was it really just some defective gene? Will it happen again? And what about the other siblings?

There’s room for a sequel here, and I’m feeling scared again. O.o

But if all else fails, and they decide to make my brain hiss by screwing with my romance, I’ll just do what I do with the Matrix trilogy, and pretend only the first one exists.

For now, however, there is only the first movie. This means the world won’t be experiencing a chocolate cake shortage any time soon.

My rating for Jupiter Ascending: Cash-Worthy – This is the kind of movie I love. Flashy, sparkly, impossible action scenes, romance, explosions, alien landscapes, cool magic/tech, and flying people. It would have gotten an Epic rating if it didn’t leave a few unanswered questions, leaving me to fear for the future of chocolate cake kind. The Wochowski’s have redeemed themselves in my eyes, and I will be buying this one. Check it out if you enjoy movies like The Fifth Element and Serenity, or romance and sci-fi/fantasy mixed together in general.

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My Rating System:

Epic: This movie is so mind-bogglingly awesome that I may go see it twice. This one will have a place of honor on my shelf.

Cash-Worthy: Good stuff. This will most likely find a place on my shelf.

Not Bad: I liked it. I’m glad I saw it, and it may or may not end up on my shelf at some point. I would say rent it first to be safe.

Meh: Rent it first. You may love it or hate it, but I’m indifferent probably because it’s not my type of movie. I’m glad I saw it, but it won’t end up on my shelf.

Emergency Cake: I have an emotional reaction to movies sometimes, especially to tragedies. If a movie makes me sad or angry, sometimes it will stick with me for a while. At these times, only chocolate cake can save me. Chocolate cake makes everything better. No shelf for you. Ever.

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