Official Synopsis
Jupiter Jones (Kunis) 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 other people’s houses and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Tatum), 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.
I can certainly see the intentions that were laid out for Jupiter Ascending. Everything was there, the structure, the characters, the political-thriller-esque storyline — it was all right there. Somehow what came out of it was something less than intended. I’m not sure if the Wachowski’s ran out of time or they simply couldn’t find a way to balance the film. Regardless of whatever the reason might be, Jupiter Ascending is an unfinished opus.
Let’s get right into it.
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The first act of the film has our unknowing protagonist’s backstory. Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is born into a Russian family and quickly grows up in a very common lifestyle of cleaning toilets for the rich. Cinderella-esque, right? Trying to achieve her small dreams, one being the purchase of a fancy telescope on eBay, she willingly agrees to help her cousin out with a financial problem by selling her eggs (her body’s eggs) at a fertility clinic, which will mean $15,000. With the money, she can buy the telescope she wants and continue to look up at the sky. Once the procedure begins, she is attacked by aliens (posing as doctors), but is thankfully rescued by an alien bounty hunter named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum). In the process of the rescue, her unknown past is revealed to her, as she is told by Wise that she is royalty in the known galaxy.
Act one certainly is a bit ‘out there’. There is no firm connection between her family and anything outside of their small bubble of a world. Jones’ only noticeable ‘out’ is the fact that she knows her place in life is beyond cleaning toilets. From the get-go, you can see the story is struggling to find a way for her to shed her common life and transition into her royal being. Regardless, the Wachowski’s spend little time with the transition and seem anxious to get Jupiter Jones on her way from rags to riches. It’s a bit sloppily done, but it does get done and propels the action forward. On a side note, I did enjoy the introduction to Channing Tatum’s Caine Wise, though and feel like he certainly captured the first act. He gets better as the movie rolls on.
Act two kicks into gear and it spends a lot of time revealing one thing right after another. First, we get a short preview of the antagonist(s) in the film, as the trio of space aristocrats are introduced. We have the loving, yet manipulative, Titus Abrasax (Douglas Booth), the saucy and sinister Kalique Abrasax (Tuppence Middleton), and finally the warped/mommy-issue-ridden Balem Abrasax (Eddie Redmayne); all three powerful and drowning in their own megalomania, yet continually driven by complete dominance. As you can imagine, the discovery of Jupiter Jones has them in a tizzy, as she poses a threat to their power, and the trio simply cannot have that in the middle of harvesting. By the way, harvesting is the collection of humans and the extraction of their life to continue the production of the trio’s industry. So, if you haven’t figured it out, Earth is a large field of sheep and the trio are the wolves.
Act two continues, as we see Jupiter Jones trying to escape earth, with the help of the Aegis group (a band of loyal mercenaries) and a stranded alien named Stinger Apini (Sean Bean), who has been trapped on earth for a while. Eventually, and through several fights, Jones gets off earth and her royal life starts unfolding before her. Her purpose becomes clear and she starts getting her royal life back together, through several series of steps. She gets a royal seal back on her arm that identifies who she is and she gets her proper paperwork together.
Still in act two, Jupiter Jones begins to visit the trio and starts to understand what they do, how they become powerful, and how the industry that is the galaxy is run. Then act two ends on a sour note (not going to reveal it) and propels us into act three.
Act two is packed with so much action and info that it doesn’t properly set up the third act in the story. The Wachowski’s seem to have a problem in this act, as there are simply too many things to talk about before the down swing of the story is revealed. While I certainly understand and appreciate the need to have three antagonists with unique stakes in Jupiter’s survival (or death), the story isn’t given enough details or time to explain these royal pains in the rumps. The introductions are nice and you can imply the personality of each, but their discovery and stake with Jupiter Jones isn’t really clear. Again, you can imply the power-pull and you can assume they have a personal vendetta in a way with Jupiter Jones, but it isn’t at all clearly and comfortably explained. It feels shortchanged and rushed the entire time.
As act three gets underway, there are some fantastic action scenes that spiral towards the climax of the film. Some issues between Jupiter Jones and Balem Abrasax are unraveled, though some of it feels a bit unwarranted (not going to give away), while others are baffling and unexplained. I can imagine there might have been some solid details in place to lead up to the climax of the film, but they never show up. You can certainly see the bridges that were built for them, but they might have been left unfinished for whatever reason.
Anyway, as the film concludes, all that is left is the notion of what might have been. Jupiter Ascending had all the indications of a beautiful space opus. The antagonists were intriguing, as was the concept of an industrial economical establishment in space, but there just seemed to be so much that needed telling and not enough time or patience given to do so.
Before we move on, one big positive coming away from Jupiter Ascending is the performances from all the players involved with especially big kudos to Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. Both leads did a fantastic job with bringing this movie to life and added enough spice to their roles to keep the broken story going and somewhat interesting. I’m particularly impressed with Tatum, as he showed signs of being more than just a typecast ‘jock’. The guy can act and I can’t wait to see him as Gambit. I’m actually encouraged more by this film that he can do well in that X-Men role.
With all that said, give Jupiter Ascending a go, if not only for the acting, action and gorgeous visuals. They do make the rough trip a somewhat tolerable journey.
On the Blu-ray side of things, much like the Wachowski’s Cloud Atlas, the movie is flawless and gorgeous in the visuals department. This is probably the biggest positive about this release and one that should be noted when deciding between SD and HD versions of the film. The scenes in space, above the skyline of Chicago and in the stormy madness of Jupiter are visually exquisite to watch in motion. Details and the lack of imperfection really are strong points with the Blu-ray for this release. Jupiter Ascending is thrown into the Warner Home Video Blu-ray mix of beautifully intricate transfers from film to Blu-ray. It’s a gorgeous film on the HD format.
On the special features side of things, here’s what to expect:
· Jupiter Jones: Destiny Is Within Us
· Jupiter Ascending: Genetically Spliced Caine Wise: Interplanetary Warrior
· The Wachowskis: Minds Over Matter
· Worlds Within Worlds Within Worlds
· Bullet Time Evolved
· From Earth to Jupiter (And Everywhere in Between)
This is definitely a good amount of quality features for a release like this. At the very least, the features will give you some aspect about the story and possibly fill in some blanks. Commentary would have been wonderful, though.
Own “Jupiter Ascending” on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD on June 2nd