'Jupiter' Offending: Sci-Fi Movies Should Stop Trying to Be Smart
Mila Kunis in Jupiter Ascending
Today sees the release of Jupiter Ascending, the new sci-fi epic from Lana and Andy Wachowski, the creators of The Matrix. Starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, Jupiter is a visually bold and ambitious would-be-blockbuster — and one, unfortunately, that’s been greeted by some pretty brutal reviews. Perhaps first and foremost among the film’s problems is one that it shares with many contemporary sci-fi movies: It’s too damn complicated.
For all of its philosophical trimmings, the first Matrix had a fairly simple story: Man discovers his reality is a computer program and he learns to fight against it. In contrast, Jupiter Ascending sees Kunis play a young Earth woman who turns out to be a reincarnation of the Queen of the Universe; who teams up with Tatum’s half-wolf warrior when she’s targeted by the three children of her previous self; who are each battling to control of a huge galactic industrial complex that harvests planets for immortal life. Or something.
The film spends far too much time hashing over the intergalactic politics, with endless exposition laying out the complicated backstory. Contrast this with the original Star Wars, where George Lucas mostly threw you into the deep end, treating the odd fringes of his universe in a matter-of-fact way, which actually proves more immersive. Think of the Mos Eisley cantina scene, which sparks the imaginations of audiences by leaving them to figure out this strange world — Wookiee? Kessel Run? — on their own.
Natalie Portman had some very exciting trade agreements to work out in The Phantom Menace
Jupiter Ascending meanwhile, is closer in approach to the notorious Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace, and its deathly-dull plot about trade embargoes. Jupiter also has plenty of DNA in common with the sometimes impenetrable mythology of hard science-fiction novels. And as near-unwatchable adaptations of everything from Dune to Battlefield Earth have demonstrated, those aren’t particularly great templates for how to make a space opera work on screen. (Even the pulpier John Carter got lost in the reeds, with unnecessary characters and plot strands).
Watch a Jupiter Ascending trailer:
Dense source material isn’t the only factor. More and more of these films develop characters and strands purely to build towards future entries in a franchise, filling that post-Avengers desire for sequels and spin-offs. (Think of Prometheus or Green Lantern, which both felt like they were setting up later installments instead of telling a stand-alone story). Filmmakers like Christopher Nolan also increasingly seem to want to head off Internet nit-picking — like those CinemaSins videos — by explaining away every possible plot hole. But the result, most of the time, is inherently undramatic.
Perhaps this trend is just indicative of filmmakers who’ve spent so long immersed in their otherworldly worlds that they forgot to make them accessible to outsiders. Given that the best recent sci-fi movies either eschew exposition altogether (Attack The Block, Monsters), or dispose of it quickly and elegantly (Snowpiercer, Looper), Jupiter Ascending is just one more reminder that when it comes to sci-fi, sometimes it’s best to stop making sense.
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures, Everett
