Review Roundup: Eddie Redmayne, Mila Kunis Star in JUPITER ASCENDING

Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum star in the space opera JUPITER ASCENDING, which opens in theaters nationwide today. The film was directed by Lana and Andrew Wachowski, whose previous films include THE MATRIX, V FOR VENDETTA, and CLOUD ATLAS.

The film is set in a world where Earth has been seeded by alien monarchies across the galaxy. A young woman named Jupiter (Kunis) soon learns that she is an heir to Earth's throne, but must go up against three other alien heirs who also have a claim to the throne. With the help of her interplantery warrior friend Caine (Tatum) the two must find a way to keep Earth from falling into the wrong hands.

JUPITER ASCENDING stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Douglas Booth, and Tuppence Middleton.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times:The performances are especially unconvincing in the quieter, intimate scenes because, while the Wachowskis know how to put on a big show...(they) excel at blowing their fantasies to smithereens, they too often fumble something more crucial and more difficult to pull off: ordinary, believable human emotions.

Peter Debruge, Variety: After this debacle, it will be a long time before the kind of recurrence where anyone trusts the duo with a budget anywhere near this scale again.

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Lana and Andy Wachowski's nutty, "original' plot - I quit counting the homages to other films after passing the 50 mark - is borderline incomprehensible, but that hardly matters in a movie so jaw-droppingly awful that you can't wait to see what happens next...

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Unlike The Matrix, certainly, there is nothing conceptual here that catches the viewer's fancy, only the spectacle of an ordinary young lady being swept up into extraordinary circumstances.

Scott Mendelson, Forbes: But considering the amount of money (clearly onscreen) being spent, the film itself just isn't strong enough in terms of crowd pleasing spectacle or iconic characters to justify the film's budget.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: The film is a cheeky recycling or reloading of the central premise from the Wachowskis' own futurist masterpiece The Matrix, with an opening nod to The Terminator and some quaint costumes and stylings taken from Galaxy Quest.

Max Nicholson, IGN: ...the story never really clicks into place and relies too heavily on a romance that doesn't work. That's not to mention some of the quirky, tonally inconsistent set-pieces.

Pete Hammond, Deadline: The Wachowskis had a great run with The Matrix...it's been awhile since one of their films really worked. This one is no different, except maybe worse.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Gate: ...few will be sorry to have seen "Jupiter Ascending." The Wachowskis have devised a compelling universe, and if they want to continue exploring it for a sequel or two, well, for once that's probably a good idea.

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap: Ultimately, this all boils down to two questions: 1) Is "Jupiter Ascending" completely bananas? Absolutely. 2) Will you have fun watching it? As long as you're OK with the answer to the first question, I don't see why not.

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