Jupiter Ascending
4/5
Utterly mad, mind-bogglingly visionary, spectacularly pretty - in many ways, it's Flash Gordon for the 21st century.
Some lines are so are-they-serious? ridiculous that I had to bury my face in my arms to prevent myself literally screaming with laughter in the cinema. It's the funniest film I've seen in years, and you're never entirely sure if it's intentional or not. And that's for the best - a lot of the humour comes from the performances being SO earnest in contrast to what's actually being said.
Aside from the sheer madness, the other big reason to see it is how jaw-droppingly gorgeous it all looks. It looks like it was made with a budget of infinity - with the exception of a couple of Earth-bound scenes, every shot has flawless CGI, a complex set or hilariously elaborate outfits. And it's not just the quality of the effects, it's also the visionary *rightness* of the designs. It's the most eye-popping production of the year by a long shot.
Jupiter Ascending won't be for everyone - during the first 15 minutes, I didn't "get it" at all and was considering walking out of the theatre, but ended up thoroughly enjoying it. It basically depends on how you feel about finding comedy in random weirdness.
By the end, my one sore point was the action sequences. Seems a strange thing for the directors of some of the finest fight scenes in cinema history, but all of them are a complete mess. No suspense, choppy editing, no pacing, anticlimactic resolutions. They're actually boring, in a film which otherwise - for certain tastes at least - is riveting.
