Caine Wise (Channing tatum)

The film follows the story of Jupiter (Mila Kunis), an average 20-something Chicago woman who cleans toilets for a living. She was named by her astronomy-crazy father, who was killed in Russia when Jupiter'€™s mother was pregnant.

After the death of her father, her mother moved to the United States, where they lived with her uncles, aunties and cousins under one roof.

Unbeknownst to Jupiter, she is actually the reincarnation of the queen of the House of Abrasax, the most powerful intergalactic royal family.

With this background, Jupiter is the rightful heir to planet Earth and this puts her in a complicated royalty war between the three other members of the Abrasax clan '€” Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Titus (Douglas Booth) and Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) '€” who are also keen to inherit Earth.

Balem, the most ambitious of the three, sends his assassins to Earth to kill Jupiter once he finds out about her existence. Jupiter'€™s death would mean that Earth would automatically be bequeathed to Balem, as the eldest of the three.

Aware of his older brother'€™s ambition, Titus also sends out a bounty hunter named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) to find Jupiter, but not to kill her. Titus'€™ ambition is to marry Jupiter and later eliminate her so he can inherit Earth.

When Balem'€™s assassins almost get Jupiter, Caine manages to save her and take her to Stinger (Sean Bean), a comrade of the bounty hunter from their times in the Aegis, some sort of intergalactic police unit. It is here Jupiter finds out her true identity.

What is so special about Earth that makes two brothers of an intergalactic royal family go head-to-head over Jupiter'€™s life? It turns out that Earth is considered the most valuable planet in the galaxy. The Abrasax regularly visit Earth, once every 100,000 years, to '€œharvest'€ millions of human beings and make them into a product called the Abrasax Premium.

The Abrasax Premium is a liquid that gives its users everlasting youth and the ability to live for many millennia. Whichever of the Abrasax takes monopolistic control of Earth will, therefore, also have the sole ownership of time.

During Jupiter'€™s adventure with Caine to evade the relentless chase by Balem and his siblings, the Wachowskis spoil the audience with out-of-this-world visual effects.

With around US$175 million invested in the making of the movie, you can bet that the Wachowskis have serious ambitions up their sleeves.

Each realm that belongs to an Abrasax sibling is meticulously designed in high detail, with relevance to their respective persona. Balem'€™s realm represents a dark underworld that takes the audience'€™s mind back to the early industrial era.

Titus'€™ gigantic spaceship offers a twisted imagery combining the dark, medieval Goth culture with the sensual appeal of a brothel; while finally, the realm of Kalique is all about serenity, beauty and castles, just like those we often see in Disney'€™s princess movies.

The battle scenes in Jupiter Ascending are also worthy of notice. The most memorable battle scene is the one in which Caine carries Jupiter gliding around Chicago'€™s skyscrapers while evading dozens of intergalactic assassins. The laser beams, explosions and Caine'€™s flying boots offer high quality entertainment for six full minutes and glue the audience to their seats in awe.

The grand theme offered in the film is like a combination of Ridley Scott'€™s Prometheus and Karl Marx'€™ opus magnum Das Kapital '€” it takes you on a journey to unravel the origins of humans and how we are being exploited like cattle by the powerful few in a mega-scale intergalactic industry.

In a way, the Wachowskis are also somehow trying to depict the representations of the gods and evil that human history has taught us through the personalities of Balem, Titus and Kalique.

Balem represents the angry and fierce god, like that often depicted in the Christian Old Testament and in the old book of the Jews. Titus, with his manipulative traits and perversions, represents the ever-opportunistic Satan; and Kalique, the least vile of the three, is a rendition of Gaia, the goddess who gives birth to all lives on Earth in Greek mythology.

Despite these enchanting visualizations, highly versatile theme and strong characters, Jupiter Ascending falls flat in its storytelling, particularly related to its main heroine and hero.

The romance developed between Jupiter and Caine does not spark enough electricity. They feel too forced to be romantically involved and Kunis and Tatum fail to show any sign of chemistry. What seems obvious is that they are better suited as siblings rather than lovers.

The love story between Jupiter and Caine also drags the film into somewhat of another teen-flick horror fantasy and love drama, like Twilight. Caine is apparently the product of a genetic mix between a humanoid and a wolf, which is called the lycantant, giving him a very sensitive sense of smell helpful in hunting down his targets, including Jupiter.

The final verdict for Jupiter Ascending is that, while it has the high ambition of reaching for the stars and setting a new standard of intergalactic tale, it fails to take off properly '€” leaving it floating between the space of mediocrity and excellence. It is not a bad film, but it will surely not be another rival to compete with Star Wars either.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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