Jupiter Ascending is an action-drama sci-fi starring Channing Tatum as an alien ex-legionnaire who is half-human half-wolf, who comes to Earth to rescue the reincarnated queen of a humanoid vampiric alien race who extend their life by breeding humans on various planets and harvesting their essence. While its story and its special effects contain plenty of sci-fi, there are clear undertones to what really goes on in this world that few people know about except those who are directly involved in it. This may make you wonder who wrote it – turns out it’s written & directed by The Wachowskis – the same pair who wrote & directed The Matrix – another movie with uncanny parallels to reality, including some very similar concepts (such as breeding humans as a resource, although in the case of The Matrix, it’s done by robots, for battery power).
Channing Tatum does a decent job acting in his role here. His performance is generally action packed, with a little drama.
Mila Kunis plays the lead female – the member of alien royalty born on earth and raised with a simple life – quite shocked when she realised she’s someone special. Her acting is so-so, she’s not really my cup of tea – to me she seems like a skin-deep minded, hot-headed drama queen rather than the feminine maiden of an action hero movie. Still, she’s not terrible.
Great to see Sean Bean play the main side-kick to Channing Tatum’s character. I once heard someone say he always adds massive value to any movie he’s in, and I can’t disagree.
Other cast members include Eddie Redmayne and Douglas Booth – the rival brothers who are both members of royalty in this alien race. They are the main antagonists in this movie and do a kind of adequate job although neither are to my taste either.
If not for so much drama and even horror genre creeping in, I would probably rate this movie as Pretty Good. First time viewers may love it. But when it comes to rewatching, if you’re only after an action hero movie, you may find the drama scenes quite tedious and spoiling the mood. So as it stands, I rate it Decent, alongside many other classic action-drama movies that just lack a smooth enough vibe and consistent enough action to warrant a higher rating even though there are many pretty strong action scenes within.
