Jupiter Ascendingoccupies a weird spot in the filmographies ofLilly and Lana Wachowski. It didn’t become a pop culture phenomenon likeThe Matrixand it isn’t innately attached to a famous source material that always keeps it around in the pop culture conversation likeCloud Atlas. The film didn’t quickly become a cult classic renowned by film geeks and families likeSpeed Racer, and though it hasn’t vanished from the zeitgeist per se, its cult following is way smaller than any other Wachowski project.
The current status ofJupiter Ascendingleads to a curious question:is it “true true"that we as a culture failed this movie? Is its modern-day functionmostly just as a footnote in the career of its iconic directorsor a reflection of how our modern pop culture rejects all originality? Or was this just an all-time bad movie that deserved the scorn it got? As usual, the reputation ofJupiter Ascendingis, to quoteCrazy Ex-Girlfriend, “a lot more nuanced” than any of those notions.
Jupiter Ascending
‘Jupiter Ascending’s Failure Reflected Troubling Pop Culture Trends
Let’s get this out of the way up front: audiences do often have a tough time signing on for original sci-fi material. Despite being the genre that houses theStar Warsand most Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, sci-fi cinema can sometimes seem “too strange” or “too wordy” for mainstream audiences to become invested in. The largest sci-fi movies at the box office tend to be films like the originalTransformersorJurassic Parktitles, where a handful of sci-fi elements are brought to life with groundbreaking VFX interacting with the real world. Unless you’reAvatar,Star Wars, orGuardians of the Galaxy, getting folks invested in far-off worlds and intergalactic conflicts is a fool’s errand. Flops likeTomorrowland,Alita: Battle Angel,John Carter,The Chronicles of Riddick, and so many more tried to get moviegoers invested in new (or at least previously un-adapted into live-action cinema) sci-fi realms.None of those box office duds were able to lure inthe kind of people in the general moviegoing public who clamor for “new ideas.”
Jupiter Ascendinghad advertising heavy on spaceships seemingly lifted fromJohn Carter, gigantic fight scenes set out in the stars, and images ofMila Kunisbeing surrounded by bees. It’s an unabashedly ridiculous sci-fi story and exactly the kind of thing that can seem too divorced from reality to general moviegoers. The overall somber tone of the marketing (devoid of the comedy that peppers so many of the Marvel films) also likely prevented the feature from seeming accessible to average audience members. Historical precedent does suggest that some ofJupiter Ascending’s initial box office failure stems from people being averse to heightened non-sequel sci-fi movies.
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There’s also the undeniable fact that the earnest atmosphere ofJupiter Ascendingwasn’t quite what mainstream moviegoers were gravitating toward at the dawn of 2015. A week afterJupiter Ascendingpremiered in the U.S.,Kingsman: The Secret Servicedebuted in this territory. Here was a movie full of snarky self-referential dialogue about spy movies, not to mention an enormously aggressive attitude as a whole. A feature likeJupiter Ascending, which ends with Channing Tatum as a half-man/half-canine who unfurls a massive pair of angel wings from his back (with nary a joke in sight), was always going to be a tough sell to the modern world.The public’s general unwillingness to enjoy classical and unabashedly preposterous materiallikeJupiter Ascendingwas always going to be a massive hurdle to cross.
‘Jupiter Ascending’ Earned Its Obscurity in Some Ways
While there were qualities about the general patterns of average moviegoers that sealedJupiter Ascending’sfate, aspects of the film itself are also to blame for why the motion picture hasn’t quite taken off as a cult classic like otherWachowski Sister productions. For one thing, the editing and visuals ofJupiter Ascendingare way more bog-standard compared to the downright avant-garde tendencies ofSpeed Raceror the sweeping scope ofCloud Atlas. There are plenty of beautiful images contained withinAscending, but there are costumes and sets that feel too derivative of other space operas.Idiosyncratic visuals go a long wayto cementing any cult classic’s status as an underappreciated gem.Jupiter Ascending, with its often muted costume design (save for a big wedding dress that Mila Kunis gets to don for one set piece) and sometimes generic spaceships, didn’t quite nail that quality.
Plus, in the years sinceJupiter Ascending, tons of other sci-fi movies have come out and stolen its thunder as something more “original” and “daring” that provides a counterpoint to typical franchise fare. 2015 also saw the release ofThe Martian, for instance, whileArrivaldebuted the following year in 2016.Then, there’s the 2018 motion picture,Annihilation, while a few months afterJupiter Ascending,Mad Max: Fury Road(which technically qualifies as sci-fi) dropped into theaters. EvenJupiter Ascending’sstatus as a female-led sci-fi film didn’t instantly make it one-of-a-kind among 2010s sci-fi features given the existence of titles likeArrival,Fury Road, andAnnihilation. With all of these projects garnering universal acclaim, the flawed nature ofJupiter Ascendingbecame even more apparent. Who needed to latch ontoJupiter Ascendingas a cult classic when the 2010s offered so many other superior sci-fi movies to enjoy?
The Main Problem With ‘Jupiter Ascending’
The biggest problem withJupiter Ascending’sreputation is that it’s simply a more flawed entryin the canon of Wachowski Sisters’ cinema. Most damningly of all, it’s also one of their least ambitious works visually and narratively. In their other works, the Wachowskis wove miraculously-crafted cinema out of building new concepts on clear cinematic inspirations. There are enjoyably weird flourishes to be found and the imagination of these filmmakers keeps the proceedings watchable. However,Jupiter Ascendingis simply too derivative for its own good. Films likeSpeed RacerandCloud Atlasare so distinctive that people can’t help but latch onto them. They’re so unlike any other American movies out there that they feel like they belong to the viewer rather than the result of an algorithm trying to predict what makes a “successful” motion picture.Jupiter Ascending, by contrast, often seems too clearly cut from the mold of earlier movies, making it difficult to feel as special or unique to viewers.
Did we failJupiter Ascending? Perhaps somewhat, especially since it got bogged down in a lot of initial hyperbolic internet hate that so many original sci-fi movies and women-front motion pictures have to contend with. There’s still a ton to admire about this feature, but it’s also clear why it hasn’t become a cult classic in the vein ofCloud AtlasorSpeed Racer, especially with the 2010s overflowing with sci-fi films to watch.Jupiter Ascendingdid deserve a bit better in its general theatrical run, especially when it came to people mocking its most sincere and creative qualities.At the same time, it’s alsonot necessarily a gargantuan travesty that it didn’t become aMatrix-sized phenomenon,even if Mila Kunis romantically saying, “I love dogs, I’ve always loved dogs,” had become this generation’s equivalent to “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
Jupiter Ascendingis available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
