Review: Jupiter Ascending

Terry Gilliam cameos as a self-consciously eccentric bureaucrat, which is only fitting since Jupiter Ascending owes quite an amount to Gilliam's Brazil as well as David Lynch's doomed mounting of Dune. The Wachowskis' space epic is undeniably full of creativity and imagination but, even if graded on a very accommodating curve, Jupiter Ascending would still be a massive disappointment for their fans and for fans of the genre.

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is the film's Cinderella - born without a country, a home, or a father, yet destined for great things and fated to find the one true love of her life. Earning her keep by cleaning toilets, she discovers that she shares the same exact genetic identity that entitles her to be queen of the universe. This does not sit well with the three heirs of the matriarch with whom Jupiter shares her DNA. The siblings' attempts to hold onto their estates put Jupiter's life in danger. Thankfully, she has the half-man, half-wolf Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) to protect and save her.

Where to even begin in unpacking this mess? The Wachowskis possess an immense talent for building new worlds, and Jupiter Ascending is difficult to deny from a technical perspective. Space battles, with spacecrafts mutating in mid-air, are well-choreographed and keep the eyes well-occupied. The CGI-generated kingdoms are impressive to behold and contain within them dense details. Costume designer Kym Barrett clearly indulged the extreme corners of her creativity - Jupiter's wedding gown alone is an intricately designed confection worthy of a Ziegfeld Girl.

For all its meticulous grandiosity, there is a nagging emptiness to the film. Even the action set pieces start to blur and bore. There is no sense of exhilaration or wonder. One scene with Jupiter flying in the air with Caine recalls the similar moment in 1978's Superman. That film's visual effects would seem positively archaic in comparison to Jupiter Ascending's visual extravaganza, but it roused your heart and astonished the mind. It does not help that Jupiter is such a bland character. It is not part of Kunis' makeup to play such a confused and helpless damsel in distress, and she flounders here. Badly.

It should be said, however, that a certain talent is required to deliver dialogue this terrible without combusting from the unimaginable depths of its atrocity. To wit: the lowly Caine attempts to curtail their romance by likening himself to a dog. "I love dogs, I've always loved dogs," Jupiter swoons. When Kunis isn't spouting such howlers, she's listening to every other character recite the most laboriously expository dialogue.

Eddie Redmayne, as the eldest heir, understands that seriousness - hell, even plain acting - is not part of Jupiter Ascending's brief and responds with a performance that manages to be all shades of bipolar camp lunacy. As for the rest of the supporting cast, they make do with the little they are given.

As for the Wachowskis, it's becoming less and less certain that they'll regain their mojo. They certainly do not lack for ambition, but they need more substance in their spectacles to support their overreachings. Also recommended: someone to prevent them from going too far down the rabbit hole of their visual impulses.

Jupiter Ascending

Directed by: The Wachowskis

Written by: The Wachowskis

Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James D'Arcy