JUPITER ASCENDING: DO WE JUST WANT MORE OF THE SAME?
In an age of reboots, sequels and spinoffs Jupiter Ascending is a film that dares to be different, and yet it is considered to be one of the worst films of the 2010’s.
Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum in Jupiter Ascending
The Wachowskis’ 2015 film Jupiter Ascending is a sensationally absurd sci-fi space opera with star actors, insightful ideas and insane visuals which earned six golden raspberry nominations and none of its money back begging the question as to whether the world wants something new or just the same recycled ideas.
Sean Gilman, a film critic at The Chinese Cinema, believes that the Wachowskis are filmmakers constantly putting out movies that are entirely an expression of themselves and these movies, like Jupiter Ascending, aren’t the types of films that are popular right now.
“The Wachowskis are committed to their vision of the films they want to make in a way that often defies conventional logic, which irritates both the studios that choose to then under-promote their movies, and the genre fans that believe whole-heartedly in the “rules” of story-telling that more corporate filmmakers go out of their way to pander to,” said Gilman.
The three highest grossing films of 2022 are either sequels or reboots and Gilman says that these types of films which let the filmmakers entirely communicate their perspective and imagination are being forgotten about despite how important they are.
“I find great value in films in which their makers’ use conventional genres or storytelling forms to reflect their own idiosyncratic tastes or beliefs or sense of cinematic style,” says Gilman. “That kind of personal expression I believe is valuable in and of itself. And it’s also something that more corporate-driven films work their best to eliminate.”
Gilman also believes that this mindset of wanting to watch the same ideas and characters over and over again is a big reason why the Wachowskis have not been able to reach the same success they had with The Matrix series.
“That film (The Matrix) was so big and appealed to so many people, that a lot of folks would go into their subsequent work expecting more of the same, or rather more of the things that gave that film its broad appeal,” said Gilman.
“But instead their later work emphasizes their more unique concerns, revolving around identity and (self-)creation, which are present in The Matrix but aren’t as obvious as its louder virtues.”
Gilman is still optimistic about the state of cinema right now due to films like Jupiter Ascending gaining cult status as people begin to rediscover it.
“I like to believe that good work will always find its audience in the end, it just sometimes takes longer than we’d like,” said Gilman.
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