FILM REVIEW: Jupiter Ascending

An original blockbuster film, not based on any known property, is hard enough to come by. But a decent space opera type of adventure would be virtually non-existent in this time and age. For whatever reason, the audiences lost interest in outer space and wondrous possibilities it could offer (unless we count Star Wars, of course). Once a source of amusement and entertainment in things like Barbarella or Flash Gordon, now it is often labelled as childish fare for underdeveloped brains. It is largely true, of course, but people who say that often give superhero things rave reviews. Go figure.

Even with all things considered, you can’t help but think everyone made up their minds about Jupiter Ascending long before it even appeared on big screens across the world. And that has nothing to do with its quality (or lack thereof). Warner Bros. must have thought it wasn’t too be any successful because there was no real effort to market it and get people excited. Good or not, there are worse examples of that made huge amounts of money and it’s a shame studio wouldn’t even make an effort to sell this.

The film itself is incomprehensible. The Wachowskis’ jammed every single frame of their latest fresco with… well, pretty much everything one could think of: space battles, expansive sets, fairy tale elements, campy comedy, bizarre creatures of various sorts. In their baroque excess, there were no efforts made to make it any coherent. Quite the opposite – as we explore the latest universe courtesy of this notorious duo, the boundaries between conventions, or even genres, become blurred and, ultimately, non-existent. It then comes as no surprise Terry Gilliam himself makes an appearance.

The story itself involves humble Russian immigrant janitor Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) being unsatisfied with her life and wanting to change things. As it happens in these types of things, she gets involved with the intergalactic intrigue of epic proportions. Turns out the humble girl is an exact genetic reincarnation of one important royal figure in grander universe. As soon as her identity is revealed, the girl becomes the target of assassination and an ongoing bargaining chip in a conflict between three heirs to Abrasax family’s inheritance. That is when Channing Tatum comes in playing, well, Channing Tatum in flying boots and with funny ears. He saves the girl at least dozens of times, while trying to atone for sins of shady bestial times and reclaim his wings. Literally.

The performances from two main actors are not exactly the most convincing. Tatum’s Caine Wise is a likeable character but devoid of any real personality. By the end of the day, it’s really hard to name a single unique trait of this character, other than his physical appearance. His sole purpose seems to be serving as a convenient plot device to get out female lead from yet another ordeal. Mila Kunis seems completely lost in this production. Not only she doesn’t seem surprised in the slightest by all astonishing things that are happening to her but she doesn’t even sell the basic love story very well.

But these two are not the worst Jupiter Ascending has to offer. That honour would go to the trio of villains, each representing a different levels of vanity and caricatures on blasé higher classes. Balem offers a hilarious and anorectic take on Brando and it's very funny to see Eddie Redmayne receive an Oscar for his take on Stephen Hawking while having this hammy performance fresh in memory. The other competing sibling of Abrasax family is Titus (Douglas Booth) who presents an eternally nonchalant Bond villain with a Dorian Gray touch. Marie Antoinette-like Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) doesn’t even fulfil any real role in this overcrowded script, save for delivering a portion of heavy exposition. One has to wonder why is she even in the film at all. Truly, all those characters are as likeable as their names and best illustrate what’s wrong with this space opera as a whole; a lack of focus.

One might say that Jupiter Ascending is impressive visually. Not really. At this day and age there is actually nothing imposing about extensive use of CGI and how it finds its way into every corner of the frame, often for no reason whatsoever. We see that virtually every two weeks now. Having said that, the Wachowskis manage to stage several impressive and well-choreographed action sequences, of which the early chase across Chicago cityscape is most energetic and fun.

The production design of this film serves as its strongest element, even if it only contributes to the growing overall cinematic mess. But it’s nice to look at and manages to impress for its own sake. The design for certain space ships seems to, funnily enough, resemble those from John Carter (of Mars), another “disappointing” old-fashioned space opera from recent years. The similarities don’t end there: both were scored by the same composer – Michael Giacchino. But, unlike its predecessor, Jupiter Ascending leans mostly largely on composer’s own dramatic and compositional instincts, rather than trying to be a love letter to other composers and their past great works of old. All of which can be a good thing.

It might be hard to gather from above paragraphs but this this latest opus from Wachowskis, for all its drivel and lack of coherence, manages to entertain. Partially because of its grand ambitions and partially because of its failure to live up to those. In any case, this trashy appeal serves as its strongest asset and one thing that catapults Jupiter Ascending into guilty pleasure status. There is a very retro sense vibe of older, more naïve and innocent, age of science-fiction. Less polished and respectable but also quite refreshing in its unapologetically nonsensical storytelling. And while there is no slapstic visible enough to definitely confirm this, the film feels very much like an intentional play on old conventions and a pastiche. With your brain switched to low mode, you might have some real fun from watching this ridiculous romp.

- Karol

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FILM REVIEW: GI Joe: Retaliation

Picking up after the events of GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra, Retaliation finds the Joes under attack, their forces obliterated and on the wrong side of the President (who isn't the President, but an imposter, Zartan, in disguise as him). Forced on the run, the Joes fight to save the country and the rest of the world from the vicious Cobra Commander and his forces. 

Finally arriving in cinemas after a delayed release date, GI Joe: Retaliation is, not surprisingly, a little underwhelming despite the many explosions, baffling accents and odd one-liners that are thrown out. The much-discussed 3D retrofit, the reason behind the film's delay, barely registers beyond a few annoying exploding bugs flying out at you and serves to make the action scenes that bit more confusing, instead of injecting a sense of spectacle. The other reason behind the delay was supposedly to add more scenes with Channing Tatum, one of the few remaining Joes from the first film, though there isn't that much extra, but what is there shows he should have been in it more. With Tatum's Duke and Ray Park's Snake Eyes providing the biggest links to the first film, Retaliation serves more as a reboot than a sequel, getting rid of the other characters without even a little explanation. 

Performances for the Joes are by the book, no one excelling beyond their two dimensions apart from a calm turn by Byung-hun Lee who stands out amongst the cardboard. Most guilty of this though is the much publicised role for Bruce Willis. The man could not be more monotone if he tried, delivering lines with so little enthusiasm, he may as well not have shown up. In fact, it might have been better if he hadn't. Despite not saying a word, nor being able to provide visual facial expressions, Ray Park manages to give Snake Eyes a quiet dignity and even a sense of humour. His battles with Storm Shadow are a masterclass in stunt performing but their fight needed to be a little longer; with the lengthy build-up it was given, their confrontation was all too brief, not allowing us the chance to see a battle between two seasoned pros. 

The villains don't fare much better though it is good to see Ray Stevenson continuing Christopher Eccleston's legacy of terrible accents and over-exagerration. Luke Bracey is given a thankless role as the Cobra Commander, taking over from Joseph Gordon-Levitt but lacking a role beyond portraying a throaty-voiced Dr Evil without the laughs in a couple of scenes. However, it is Jonathan Pryce is Zartan-Mr President who has all the fun. Dialling it up to 11 and running with it, he's given all sorts of daft lines to say but does so with gusto and is probably the most entertaining aspect of the film, a relic from the knowingly silly Rise of the Cobra.

Clearly meant to inject the same lease of life as he did with the Fast Five franchise, Dwayne Johnson takes over as the square-jawed lead Roadblock. Sadly lightening has not struck twice; Johnson's broad shoulders are more than enough to shoulder the film but he's an actor who always works better when there is someone to bounce off. Early in the film, Channing Tatum's Duke sparks off Roadblock and the chemistry between the two actors make their scenes together entertaining with a spark that could have livened up the rest of the film. Sadly, Tatum exits stage left too soon and the rest of the film is spent mourning his absence. If you had told me I'd write that sentence a few years back, I'd have laughed in your face. But times have changed and Tatum is a much better actor who would have made GI Joe: Retaliation just that little bit better.

There is one thing though that Retaliation has in its favour; ninjas. Lots of them. I often thought that the most compelling part of Rise of the Cobra was the rivalry between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes and so it proves to be in the sequel. One of the big hooks used in the trailer was the mountain-side ninja battle and it doesn't disappoint. It's the one action sequence that makes complete sense from Snake Eyes' entrance, subsequent battle with Storm Shadow and the rope fight across the mountain. It's impressively staged and as a result, the highlight of the film. Had Chu managed to inject the same energy and excitement into the other sequences, we may have had a thrill ride on our hands. 

If I had to describe this film in one simple yet slightly reductive term, it would be 'bland'. It's not terrible and in some ways, it's better than Rise of the Cobra, but it just lacks a lot of the fun that made the first film so laughably awful yet entertaining. Chu clearly knows his way around the choreography, but the action sequences are frenetic and confusing to the point where I resolved myself to just sit back and wait to see who survived. 

Expecting high art from a film based on a Hasbro toy is a tad silly, but it's not unreasonable to want a film that takes its concept, an inherently fun yet silly one, and just runs with it. The first film was awful yes, but it wore its ludicrous concept on its sleeve and created a live action cartoon that, despite its flaws, was really entertaining. In its attempt to create something of a better quality, Retaliation loses that, becoming oddly po-faced and miserable with only just a few bright spots in between.

**

- Becky

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FILM REVIEW: 21 Jump Street

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star as two under-achieving cops who are sent to Jump Street, a revival of an 80s programme which saw young-looking police officers infiltrate high schools in order to crack down on youth crime. The original series is perhaps more famous for giving a certain Johnny Depp his first break and was high on dramatic action, rather than comedy. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller adopted a very different approach for this particular revival, aiming for comedy and thankfully, it succeeds.


I don't want to give away too many of the jokes here so I'm going to remain deliberately vague as to even know some of the build-up to the punchlines would give it away. As with all adult comedies, crude humour and profanity are utilised throughout, but not to the extent that they overshadow the humour and rarely get in the way of a clever joke. Safe to say though that the quickfire gag rate means that the few jokes that don't work are quickly replaced by a dozen or so that do.


The film's strength lies in its self-deprecating quality and there's a sense of knowing that permeates throughout, starting with the captain's rant about how all anyone ever seems to be doing is reviving old 80s programmes and hoping no one notices. How very meta. In some cases, this could get tired; a film that's clever enough to know it's unoriginal can sometimes go past being suitably amusing to ever so slightly pretentious. 21 Jump Street treads a fine line but it never tips over into the latter, and knowing that's a big cliche is probably one of the high points of the film.

By combining the buddy cop and high school film genres, it gives the film plenty of targets to spoof and it does so with aplomb. Right from the off, with the Eminem intro and the police academy training montage, the film starts building up the cliches; we get mismatched cops, the angry black captain, a car chase, a high school hierarchy and even a slow-motion entrance to some cool music. Rather than just present the cliches however, Lord and Miller build them up only to knock them down again. Never taking itself too seriously, the film revels in the audience's expectations; we see a car chase, we know something is going to explode. Rather than going for the cheap spectacle though, it's built into an extended joke with a very funny punchline. This is the same for the high school cliches, cleverly observing that school has changed from the regimented hierarchy it used to be to a place where the popular kids are environmentally conscious, gay and drug dealers. Jenko's theory as to why this is the case is perhaps my favourite joke of the entire film. And, as with all good high school films, it ends at the prom. Though it's probably not any prom you'd like to attend.

Performance wise, the central duo are perfect in their respective roles. I'm not the biggest fan of Jonah Hill because in every film I've seen him in, he plays... well, Jonah Hill. His character Schmidt is your typical nerd in high school, unable to ask a girl to the prom or run 100 yards particularly quickly. His character arc is actually quite sweet given that he's able to relive his high school years only this time on the popular side of the crowd. This helps to overlook the slightly weird romantic subplot with Molly (Brie Larson), a high school senior. The real revelation in this film though has to be Channing Tatum in his first real comic role. Previously seen glowering in either romantic dramas or explodey-actioners, Tatum has rarely been given a chance to present anything other than an overhanging forehead macho character. Jenko could have just been another dumb jock, seen in countless other films, but instead, Tatum gives the role depth, combining the dumb jock with the kid who just wanted to be popular in high school. He also demonstrates great comic timing and is trusted with a lot of the best lines in the film. Plus, he mimes a mean lightsaber battle.

Elsewhere, Ice Cube puts in a great performance, nearly stealing the show with his 'angry black captain' speech. Dave Franco, younger brother of James, as main drug dealer Eric sends up the popular kid stereotype brilliantly and I don't think it will be long before we see much more of him. Then of course, there's the cameos. We knew from the start that Johnny Depp had agreed to cameo and, though a long time coming, it's well worth the wait. When he does appear, alongside fellow Jump Street alumnus Peter Deluise, it's one of the most hilariously meta gags in the whole film, ushering in the new Jump Street era with some knowing references.


As with all comedies, Jump Street falls apart slightly when it comes to the plot. Although the central plot of infiltrating the high school drugs ring works and the ultimate reveal of the dealer is suitably surprising, the film does have a couple of pacing issues. Because of the melding of action and comedy, it was always going to be a struggle to make sure the story held up all the way through the film. The plot inevitably gets in the way of the fast-paced gag rate and everything slows down as a result. Thankfully, the entrance to the prom reinvigorates it all and instead of a limp third act that could have reduced the film to mediocre, we get a suitably hilarious finish to a great comedy.


If you're in need of a hearty giggle or craving a spoof of several genres all at once, 21 Jump Street makes for a very funny evening and, if you've already seen it and want more, be comforted to know that the inevitable cash-in sequel is most definitely on the way.


****


- Becky