Jupiter Ascending [DVD] [2015]

This review is based on watching "Jupiter Ascending" at home on BluRay.There have been a lot of Sci-fi blockbusters brought to the screen in the past few years. The vast majority have been fairly dark in tone, particularly the dystopian sagas aimed at teenagers (e.g. the Hunger Games, Divergent and Maze Runner series). Some of them have been clever but far too many have not been, frankly, all that entertaining."Jupiter Ascending" is in a different category - it's an action Space Opera romp which is ridiculous, fast moving, and if you like excitement, fun from beginning to end.The film begins on earth as the central figure, Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) described how she arrived in the USA at the age of a few days old, her family having left Russia after her English father had been murdered by gangsters, and describes herself as an illegal alien: it turns out that this is true in more ways than she realises and although she is working as a domestic cleaner in Chicago she is actually more important than anyone on earth imagines ...Cut to a world which has been emptied of people, where three of the most rich and powerful people in the galaxy are meeting. they are brothers and sister and each has inherited vast wealth including multiple inhabited planets. In the eyes of the galactic civilisation to which they belong the elder brother Balem (Eddie Redmayne), owns the planet Earth and it appears that his plans for the planet may not bode well for its' inhabitants. The ruling figures of the galactic civilisation are almost immortal and very powerful but that power comes at a terrible price for them and for billions of victims.We then learn that the area of Chicago where Jupiter lives is being watched by concealed aliens working for someone off world, but it is not at first clear which are the bad guys and which, if any, can be trusted.Both Balem and his brother and sister Kalique (Tuppence Middleton), and Titus (Douglas Booth), are taking an interest in a human called Katherine Dunleavy, one of the rich neighbours whose house Jupiter cleans, but for reasons I will not mention to avoid a spoiler Jupiter gets caught up in this.Suddenly Jupiter finds herself a pawn in a galactic power struggle which may affect the lives of everyone on earth - a pawn being fought over because, like a pawn in a chess game, if she can get to the back rank (the galactic capital) she could be promoted to be a queen ...A number of the cast play non-human or genetically modified characters, or robots, and may be hard to identify even if you know the actors well, unless their voices give them away. For example Channing Tatum, who plays Caine Wise, one of the half-human agents sent after Jupiter Jones, is supposed to be a genetically engineered ex solder, half human and half canine, and Tatum had to act while wearing a mouthpiece which changed the shape of his jaw.This film features a number of excellent performances including Sean Bean as Stinger Apis, a former soldier of the Galactic Legion - is this going to be one of the rare films where his character doesn't get killed? Of course I'm not going to spoil it by saying. Another was by Terry Gilliam who plays the "seals and signets minister" in a very amusing vignette set on the galactic capital world, which makes out that galactic bureaucrats are even worse than those on earth - Samuel Barnett has an equally amusing part as a robot lawyer dealing with the dreadful bureaucracy in the same section of the film. Also worthy of a mention is Nikki Amuka-Bird as Diomika Tsing, who commands a space cruiser operated by the Aegis, the galactic police force.Special effects in this film were excellent, up there with the best recent SF blockbusters such as Ender's Game or the Star Trek reboots. The plot and the science, such as they are, were more than mildly ridiculous but the action and entertainment value kept me watching.The bottom line is that if you read or watch science fiction to have your mind stretched or to be opened to new ideas or challenges, you should leave this film entirely alone, but if you want to be entertained it delivers far more than most of the recent sci-fi blockbusters. Basically this is enjoyable nonsense.

If you like to be entertained then this will do it for you! Excellent acting by the key players, Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum to name but two and really good special effects. Very much a Game Of Thrones in Space! An interesting plot, great effects and a thrilling ride throughout. If you are into SciFi and stuck for something to watch, grab your favourite beverage or chocolate substitute and watch this! :-)

More for a younger audience

The Wachowskis, who brought us 'The Matrix', here present another science fiction movie with a wholly original story and concept.Jupiter Jones [Mila Kunis] should seemingly be destined for great things. Having had a father who always looked upwards. But she lives with her large family and works as a toilet cleaner.She stops drifting through life, though, when she's rescued from danger by Caine [Channing Tatum] a pointy eared human/wolf hybrid hunter. Jupiter's existence threatens the power balance between the three siblings of a powerful interstellar family. And the future of the Earth plus everyone on it. Can she survive and claim her destiny and take control of her life?You can't fault this film for ambition and world building. Almost every shot brims with imagination. The directors create wholly alien worlds and characters. There's so much going on onscreen at times, with so much attention to detail to bring the truly alien settings to life.Unfortunately, they can't do the same for the script and the characters. This feels like a franchise starter of a movie. Those need to introduce the audience to the setting. The main characters. And give the latter a good adventure with it. The film succeeds at the first point, but not at the second two. Jupiter is too average a character, who spends most of the time just reacting to what happens. And getting into danger. But why worry about that, when Caine is always there to save her?Sean Bean does have enough acting charisma to make an impression as a war weary veteran. But you're always conscious it's him playing a role rather than thinking it's a character you're watching. Eddie Redmayne, as chief villain, has so little to work with he has to go over the top and chew scenery. Which does make an impression, if not necessarily in the right way.You get almost two hours of set piece then exposition then bit of action. Then back to set piece. This could do with losing about twenty five minutes just to make it better paced.A very imaginative and visually successful film, but as a memorable character piece and story, not something that will live in the mind very long.The dvd has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, Castilian Spanish.Subtitles: English, Castilian Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish.The disc goes straight to the main menu when loaded, with no adverts or trailers first.There are two extras, both short featurettes:Jupiter Jones: Destiny is within us. Runs for six minutes and is all about Jupiter's character arc. It does show you what the writing is trying to achieve.Jupiter Ascending: Genetically spliced. Runs for nine minutes and is about the work done by costume and makeup to make the human animal hybrid characters. It's quite interesting.