Forgive me for I have sinned…I went and paid money to see Jupiter Ascending. And you know it was not all that bad for a sequel to The Fifth Element.
There was a sort of ‘Fifth Element’ feel to the Galaxy, or was that just me? The movie itself was alright, but again…and this keeps happening lately…I am reminded of what I don’t like about the state of movies nowadays.
There used to be art in making films. If the script was not right you simply did not go ahead until it was. It was understood that the story was the most important thing, but not so much anymore. Now it seems like it’s all about visuals and stars and money concerns. I get that movies need to make money but there used to be artists making them, artists that did not want their names on a polished turd, just to get ahead or make money. They gave a crap about their craft.
I guess what I am trying to say is that this is no Indiana Jones, but it’s not all that bad either. At least it wasn’t a sequel or something derived from another property just for the sake of a recognizable name, like Battleship or High-Ho Cherry-O.
I liked that it was original and it did feel like the filmmakers were taking a leap. I kept telling myself ‘this is Space Opera’ and that went a long way towards forgiving what at times was simply not otherwise impressive. The visuals were top notch but the aliens themselves are one dimensional, just the usual bad guys are very bad and the good guys fart lightning.
Spoilers!
What was the deal with the Brass Telescope?
Why would the space cops, the AEGIS, allow the baddies to kidnap Jupiter’s family and hold them hostage like that? I mean, they are the Her Majesty’s family and they can just be kidnapped and threatened? What good are these space cops again?
So…they actually allowed the very people who have taken her family to also take her onto their ship and go into the domed city first so they can be locked out like a bunch of shaved-tail lilies? Really?
Yeah, we all totally bought that she would marry that dude. Sure.
How did they find out that Jupiter even existed at all? What exactly led not one but two different parties to her clinic where she was using a fake name? Maybe I missed something there.
I wish I could give this more, but I’ve got to go with a rating of only 2 Moby’s with this one. Not the worst thing you could see at the theater this week, but could have (should have) been epic.
Moby Rating: 2 out of 5 Moby’s!
