Jupiter Ascending

That's really not saying much.

edited 9th Jul '15 1:02:48 AM by Nithael

At the very least, he managed to make any scene he was in less of a chore to watch.

Seriously, this film should've just been about him.

edited 9th Jul '15 1:15:49 AM by LDragon2

Finally finished this fricken film.

Where oh where do I begin? The fact that the film takes from so many other sources without doing anything creative with them? The fact that it is a complete bore to watch until the last 30 minutes? The fact that it tries to balance comedy and drama but fails at both? The fact that it puts themes and world-building over telling an interesting story, and just throws whatever it can at the screen? The fact that the main protagonist is useless and does nothing until the last 30 minutes?

Really, the few good things I can say about it is that the effects, especially the rocket boots, were really cool, that it had ambition, tried to make a female hero that wasn't another Ladette and used her empathy rather than her fists, and Eddie Redmayne's extremely entertaining performance (he seemed to be the only one who was having fun acting in the film, all things considered). Aside from that, not a very good film.

Shame too. I'm a huge fan of the Wachowski Siblings, with The Matrix being my all time favorite movie, and I even still defend Speed Racer as an underrated masterpiece. But this is their worst film since The Matrix Revolutions.

@ the Bella comparison...yeah, neither of them are great characters, but at least Jupiter was just kind of vapid and out of it most of the time (which would be understandable, they just took it too far) while Bella actively wrecks her relationships and even attempts to commit suicide at one point because...I don't know, vampires are that amazing.

Vampires are explicitly addictive in that story. Add to that the throes of adolescent infatuation...

No, Bella is bad because she's an asshole. Jupiter, though a tad listless, is a good person, modest, kind, altruistic, responsible, who at least tries to stay positive and humane in the face of callous horror.

I kind of feel that Doug Walker subscribes to the Real Women Never Wear Dresses idea, hence why he considers someone like Jupiter as bad as, or worse than Bella.

Don't get me wrong, Jupiter was a really boring protagonist. But she is certainly not worse than Bella Swan.

Jupiter is not an inherently bad idea for a character; Zoey Deschanel was rather charming as a similarly flaky/bewildered/good-hearted Dorothy Gale update in a equally wobbly and derivative Oz wannabe called Tin Man (the Sy Fy miniseries of a few years back).

The trouble with Jupiter is a combination of several things:

-the narrative not favoring her strengths: several key scenes in Tin Man have Deschanel taking the initiative with kindness and empathy, and having that pay off in a positive way; most of Jupiter Ascending has Kunis at the mercy of her emotions and just coming off as flighty and a bit spineless.

-not giving her enough interesting characters to connect with: most of Kunis's allies, except for Channing, kind of hold her at arm's length, while the Abraxas siblings (whom she spends a lot of screentime with) are played as such egotistical drama queens that their mommy issues and connection with Kunis feel like an afterthought. Tin Man had warm, likable actors playing most of the good characters, a moderately good performer playing the only villain who turns out to be at all complicated, and (as a miniseries) enough time to develop Deschanel's interactions with everyone.

-Kunis not seeming very invested in the role. Deschanel's arguably a less good actress, but she seemed to be enjoying her role in Tin Man, and came off as very engaged with the material.

Deschanel's a case where she seems really out of it in the vast majority of her roles. Kunis just keeps getting really crappy ones.