Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

AN HONEST PROS AND CONS REVIEW FROM A FAN This visually beautiful Sci-Fi is action filled with rather lofty goals and a moral core not always seen in action films today. Whether you like it or not may depend largely on whether you can appreciate some of its many facets while forgiving others. Each person may find different positives, but I felt the movie succeeded best in its stunning visuals and tremendous action choreography. I appreciated the underlying messages and wish they could have developed the concepts a little more deeply. The mythology is amazingly rich, but not fully tapped. This movie was much maligned by professional critics, so I hope those who love it will realize I am giving an impassioned defense while also providing an honest description to help those who will not like the movie make that determine as well. THE PLOT (no spoilers): Jupiter Jones is the daughter of Russian immigrants from Petersburg. Her father had a fascination with space, the planets, and Jupiter in particular. Hence her namesake. As Jupiter grows up in Chicago, her life is anything but glamorous with her family struggling to survive. She cleans for a living and has to be pried out of bed each morning as she longs for a different life. She inherits her father's fascination for space and is trying to save money for her own telescope. The time period is modern day. However, unseen to the inhabitants of this earth, there is an entire universe of intelligent life which is ruled by a royal family closely related humans. Further, the people of this earth (and other worlds) have an important purpose to fulfill that is more sinister than we might ever imagine. This ruling family runs the expanse of space like rival companies. In a universe full of planets and natural resources, the real commodity is actually time. This royal house is in turmoil as the ruling queen was murdered (prior to our story) and the three remaining heirs seek majority control. This tale is a unique take on genetics as Jupiter is the exact recurrence of the queen's genetic sequence (similar to our concept of reincarnation, but with a more scientific explanation). As the queen's reincarnation, humble Jupiter is suddenly entitled to the richest holdings in the universe, and a serious target! Through a strange sequence of events, she finds herself in the middle of an inter-galactic power struggle with incomparable stakes. Alliances and intrigue will be as important as brute force. WHAT I LIKED: Again, it's impossible to ignore some extraordinary visuals. For those who are action fans, there were hyper paced, visual shattering, heart pumping moments with crazy stunts. The message about appreciating one's own life and the railing against greed was a lofty goal. This isn't always the case in movies focusing on great action so it's a tremendous opportunity to add something substantial while also having fun and entertaining people. it adds depth. I didn't feel they completely realized that goal so I will address some of those aspects below. The production values are the very highest. Character development was excellent overall, but a mixed bag as some were very interesting while others maybe not entirely fleshed out. The premise as a whole I thought was intriguing, especially the genetic aspect. The general mythology was a tremendous concept for them to exploit and I wish they had explored it even further. THE LESS GOOD: The movie finds a little something for everyone, Sci-Fi, comedy, romance, mythology, action, intellectualism... but it just doesn't have time to really hit some of those aspects very deeply. This is part of what I think professional critics fixated on. The different aspects of the film skip from phase to phase, but don't always develop the connection. I didn't feel as invested in the romance as I should have because they went straight from rescue to deep conviction. We really don't see how she or he got such strong feelings. The villains were very well constructed, due in part to great acting. It might be a little melodramatic by design (they are super villains after all) but they actually outshine the good characters at times. Jupiter is a great character and Kunis is terrific, but the writers don't always give her the greatest dialog (she does have some funny lines here and there). They make her seem a little hollow, even after her transformation. I am not saying the character development is bad. I am saying it is good enough for an action movie as one might expect, but perhaps does not measure up to the kind of moral goal and intellectual aspects they themselves injected in the writing. It's a hard bar to measure up to. FINAL THOUGHTS: Even with the professional critic lampooning, this movie is headed for cult-classic status. Perhaps history will treat the movie even more favorably. Some of the criticism can find basis in fact. But this movie deserves a little more credit than it was given before it hit theaters. Go in with the right expectations and I think you will have a great experience. Or, avoid it if you feel duly informed. This has been a divisive movie so I think it's ok to have differing views without being offended by others who disagree. For me this was a purchase. I suggest new viewers rent it before a blind buy.