The Wachowskis Science-Fiction Double Feature: Cloud Atlas & Jupiter Ascending
The Wachowskis Science-Fiction Double Feature: Cloud Atlas & Jupiter Ascending
The Wachowski sisters, Lana and Lilly Wachowski made a name for themselves in the world of science fiction in 1999 when they wrote and directed the Matrix, and since then they have not slowed down in their creative and imaginative output, releasing some of the most mind blowing science fiction films in the industry. In 2012 they adapted the David Mitchell novel Cloud Atlas, and in 2015 they wrote and directed the science-fiction action film Jupiter Ascending, two big budget sci-fi films that were mind blowing in their effects and just overall bigness.
Cloud Atlas released in 2015, was written and directed by the Wachowski sisters with Tom Tykwer co-directing, based on the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and X-Verleih (in Germany). Cloud Atlas was a box office disappointment only making $130.5 million in the box office, against its $100 million budget (though some reports put the budget as high as $140 million). The film also polarized the critics, they either absolutely loved or absolutely hated the film, the biggest issue with the film was how complicated and hard to follow it was. The reason for the film being so complicated and hard to follow is that it is actually six different stories in six different timelines, with the characters all playing different characters in different timelines, but in a way everything is somehow connected by the end of the film.
Being that it is a film with six different stories, taking place in six different timelines, as well as all of the actors playing different characters, it is a little hard to talk about the casting, so rather than saying what characters they play as I usually do, I am just going to list the names of the actors in the film, and how many roles they play. Tom Hanks (6 roles), Hugo Weaving (6 roles), Hugh Grant (6 roles), Halle Berry (6 roles), Susan Sarandon (4 roles), Doona Bae (6 roles in 3 of the timelines), Jim Sturgess (6 roles), Ben Whishaw (5 roles), Jim Broadbent (5 roles), Keith David (4 roles), James D'Arcy (4 roles), Xiu Xun (3 roles), David Gyasi (3 roles), and Robert Fyfe (3 roles). The six timelines are Pacific Islands 1849, Cambridge/Edinburgh 1936, San Francisco 1973, London 2012, Neo Seoul 2144, and Big Isle 106 winters after The Fall (2321). Many of the actors play not only different characters, but different genders and even different races, because it was showing a form of reincarnation type of concept, and in some instances the characters even become aware of their past lives...okay it is hard to explain.
Cloud Atlas is not a film to just sit down and casually watch, there is a lot going on, and if you pay close attention you can find ways that all of the stories connect to each other. The film is also a beautiful film to watch, the special effects are amazing, and it is just visually stunning. This is a film that is totally worth watching, and because of how much there is going on, it is a film that should definitely be watched multiple times, I feel like everytime you watch it you will pick up on another connection. The cast is great, the story is mind boggling big and wicked confusing, but if you get lost, just enjoy the visuals. As I was going through the film I often found myself getting lost, and not being able to remember any of the characters names at all, it is almost like if you kept flipping channels between different films, picking up bits and pieces of each, but then somehow all of them find a way to connect in some way. I think that there is a big message about how everything is connected, at least that is what the posters for the film announce, but I feel like many casual viewers, will be sitting there wondering what the hell the just watched. I'm actually not sure if a film is the correct way to bring this novel to life, I think that it might have worked better as a show on Netflix of something. Overall a great story, just wicked confusing, and really big and complex. I definitely praise Tom Cruise, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, and Susan Sarandon for their roles in this film. I highly recommend checking it out, if you are in the mood for something very big, strange, and big confusing.
The Wachowski sisters, Lana and Lilly Wachowski made a name for themselves in the world of science fiction in 1999 when they wrote and directed the Matrix, and since then they have not slowed down in their creative and imaginative output, releasing some of the most mind blowing science fiction films in the industry. In 2012 they adapted the David Mitchell novel Cloud Atlas, and in 2015 they wrote and directed the science-fiction action film Jupiter Ascending, two big budget sci-fi films that were mind blowing in their effects and just overall bigness.
Cloud Atlas released in 2015, was written and directed by the Wachowski sisters with Tom Tykwer co-directing, based on the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and X-Verleih (in Germany). Cloud Atlas was a box office disappointment only making $130.5 million in the box office, against its $100 million budget (though some reports put the budget as high as $140 million). The film also polarized the critics, they either absolutely loved or absolutely hated the film, the biggest issue with the film was how complicated and hard to follow it was. The reason for the film being so complicated and hard to follow is that it is actually six different stories in six different timelines, with the characters all playing different characters in different timelines, but in a way everything is somehow connected by the end of the film.
Being that it is a film with six different stories, taking place in six different timelines, as well as all of the actors playing different characters, it is a little hard to talk about the casting, so rather than saying what characters they play as I usually do, I am just going to list the names of the actors in the film, and how many roles they play. Tom Hanks (6 roles), Hugo Weaving (6 roles), Hugh Grant (6 roles), Halle Berry (6 roles), Susan Sarandon (4 roles), Doona Bae (6 roles in 3 of the timelines), Jim Sturgess (6 roles), Ben Whishaw (5 roles), Jim Broadbent (5 roles), Keith David (4 roles), James D'Arcy (4 roles), Xiu Xun (3 roles), David Gyasi (3 roles), and Robert Fyfe (3 roles). The six timelines are Pacific Islands 1849, Cambridge/Edinburgh 1936, San Francisco 1973, London 2012, Neo Seoul 2144, and Big Isle 106 winters after The Fall (2321). Many of the actors play not only different characters, but different genders and even different races, because it was showing a form of reincarnation type of concept, and in some instances the characters even become aware of their past lives...okay it is hard to explain.
Cloud Atlas is not a film to just sit down and casually watch, there is a lot going on, and if you pay close attention you can find ways that all of the stories connect to each other. The film is also a beautiful film to watch, the special effects are amazing, and it is just visually stunning. This is a film that is totally worth watching, and because of how much there is going on, it is a film that should definitely be watched multiple times, I feel like everytime you watch it you will pick up on another connection. The cast is great, the story is mind boggling big and wicked confusing, but if you get lost, just enjoy the visuals. As I was going through the film I often found myself getting lost, and not being able to remember any of the characters names at all, it is almost like if you kept flipping channels between different films, picking up bits and pieces of each, but then somehow all of them find a way to connect in some way. I think that there is a big message about how everything is connected, at least that is what the posters for the film announce, but I feel like many casual viewers, will be sitting there wondering what the hell the just watched. I'm actually not sure if a film is the correct way to bring this novel to life, I think that it might have worked better as a show on Netflix of something. Overall a great story, just wicked confusing, and really big and complex. I definitely praise Tom Cruise, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, and Susan Sarandon for their roles in this film. I highly recommend checking it out, if you are in the mood for something very big, strange, and big confusing.
The Wachowski sisters brought us another visually stunning science-fiction film in 2015 with Jupiter Ascending. This film had a much more traditional, straightforward story than Cloud Atlas, however it did quite poorly in the box office and with the critics. Jupiter Ascending is a space opera, with a bit of a cross between a fairy tale like Cinderella and Star Wars, with big over the top action of a superhero film. This is one of those films that is a feast for the eyes on the big screen, with a huge bigness to it, but it also just becomes kind of over the top ordinary in many ways as well.
Jupiter Ascending was written and directed by the Wachowski sisters and though was originally slated for a 2014 release, got pushed back to 2015. The film was distributed by Warner Bros Pictures, and Roadshow Entertainment handled the Australian and New Zealand distribution. The film was a box office loss, bringing in a mere $183.9 in the box office against its budget of over $200 million, and the critical response was equally negative. The problem with a film with a high budget like this, is that it is very hard to make back the money that it took to make it, a $183.9 million gross in the box office is a pretty nice amount, when you are making a $20 million film, but when you are making a film with a budget of over $200 million, it is a lot harder to break even or even make a profit, and with box office bombs like Jupiter Ascending and box office disappointments like Cloud Atlas, those are things that could ruin a lesser director's career, however the huge success and popularity of the Matrix has helped to keep these sisters in business making films.
Though Jupiter Ascending was a critical failure and a box office bomb, it has found a fanbase among female fans of science fiction. It is refreshing to see a female hero who isn't some action hero, super-hero tpe, she is just a normal person. The character of Jupiter Jones is relatable, she is just normal young woman, just like any of us, she doesn't have super powers, she doesn't have huge muscles, she isn't some perfect superhuman, she is just a regular woman, that happens to find out that she is the reincarnated queen of the Universe, and though she ascends to that role, she doesn't leave her family, and returns to living her life, just with a bit of a big secret that she keeps.
Jupiter Ascending stars Mila Kunis as Jupiter Jones, Channing Tatum as Caine Wise, Sean Bean as Stinger Apini, Charlotte Beaumont plays Stinger's daughter Kiza, Eddie Redmayne as Balem Abrasax, Douglas Booth as Titus Abrasax, Tuppence Middleton as Kalique Abrasax, Maria Doyle Kennedy as Aleksa (Jupiter's Mother), James D'Arcy s Maximilian Jones (Jupiter's father), Doona Bae as Razo a bounty hunter, and a large cast of various humans and aliens that Jupiter meets on her adventure. I also wanted to mention that Terry Gilliam plays the Seal and Signet Minister that bestows Jupiter's title to the Earth. The cast is okay, no one is really great, and no one really stands out. I think maybe the best part of the cast is the adorable character that Doona Bae plays as Razo the bounty hunter, I absolutely love the aesthetic and look of her character.
This is a film that really is more style than substance, beneath all of the big impressive visuals and special effects and costumes this is really just quite an ordinary mediocre film, there isn't really anything great about it, aside from the Mila Kunis' character of Jupiter Jones, being a great "average woman" hero. For the most part, I feel like the big action scenes are just too much, and too long and drawn out, and causes a bit of overload to the eyes. I also think the big flying through the air fight scenes just giving a superhero film look, which I absolutely hate. This is a fun film for it's impressive visuals and effects, but overall it is a bit disappointing and...well boring really. This film is just mediocre, it isn't a bad film per say, there are just better films than this at almost every element of the film. There are better space operas, there are better fairytales, there are better action hero or even superhero films, and there are far better science fiction films out there, this film is just okay and suffers from a bad case of mediocrity.
Jupiter Ascending was written and directed by the Wachowski sisters and though was originally slated for a 2014 release, got pushed back to 2015. The film was distributed by Warner Bros Pictures, and Roadshow Entertainment handled the Australian and New Zealand distribution. The film was a box office loss, bringing in a mere $183.9 in the box office against its budget of over $200 million, and the critical response was equally negative. The problem with a film with a high budget like this, is that it is very hard to make back the money that it took to make it, a $183.9 million gross in the box office is a pretty nice amount, when you are making a $20 million film, but when you are making a film with a budget of over $200 million, it is a lot harder to break even or even make a profit, and with box office bombs like Jupiter Ascending and box office disappointments like Cloud Atlas, those are things that could ruin a lesser director's career, however the huge success and popularity of the Matrix has helped to keep these sisters in business making films.
Though Jupiter Ascending was a critical failure and a box office bomb, it has found a fanbase among female fans of science fiction. It is refreshing to see a female hero who isn't some action hero, super-hero tpe, she is just a normal person. The character of Jupiter Jones is relatable, she is just normal young woman, just like any of us, she doesn't have super powers, she doesn't have huge muscles, she isn't some perfect superhuman, she is just a regular woman, that happens to find out that she is the reincarnated queen of the Universe, and though she ascends to that role, she doesn't leave her family, and returns to living her life, just with a bit of a big secret that she keeps.
Jupiter Ascending stars Mila Kunis as Jupiter Jones, Channing Tatum as Caine Wise, Sean Bean as Stinger Apini, Charlotte Beaumont plays Stinger's daughter Kiza, Eddie Redmayne as Balem Abrasax, Douglas Booth as Titus Abrasax, Tuppence Middleton as Kalique Abrasax, Maria Doyle Kennedy as Aleksa (Jupiter's Mother), James D'Arcy s Maximilian Jones (Jupiter's father), Doona Bae as Razo a bounty hunter, and a large cast of various humans and aliens that Jupiter meets on her adventure. I also wanted to mention that Terry Gilliam plays the Seal and Signet Minister that bestows Jupiter's title to the Earth. The cast is okay, no one is really great, and no one really stands out. I think maybe the best part of the cast is the adorable character that Doona Bae plays as Razo the bounty hunter, I absolutely love the aesthetic and look of her character.
This is a film that really is more style than substance, beneath all of the big impressive visuals and special effects and costumes this is really just quite an ordinary mediocre film, there isn't really anything great about it, aside from the Mila Kunis' character of Jupiter Jones, being a great "average woman" hero. For the most part, I feel like the big action scenes are just too much, and too long and drawn out, and causes a bit of overload to the eyes. I also think the big flying through the air fight scenes just giving a superhero film look, which I absolutely hate. This is a fun film for it's impressive visuals and effects, but overall it is a bit disappointing and...well boring really. This film is just mediocre, it isn't a bad film per say, there are just better films than this at almost every element of the film. There are better space operas, there are better fairytales, there are better action hero or even superhero films, and there are far better science fiction films out there, this film is just okay and suffers from a bad case of mediocrity.
The Wachowski sisters are great science fiction directors, but I tend to find their stuff just a bit too big and flashy, and their messages get muddled in the bigness of their films. I appreciate for example that The Matrix is an analogy for being transgender, I appreciate what they tried to accomplish in Cloud Atlas, I appreciate the common woman hero in Jupiter Ascending, and I appreciate the casual inclusion of LGBTQIA characters in many of their films including both Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, but over all their films tend to be a miss with me. Both of these films I discussed today are worth watching, and great in their own way, though Cloud Atlas is definitely more of a successful film, in that it just works better, and Jupiter Ascending is entertaining, but just a mediocre film overall. You can find both of them released as a discount double feature from Warner Bros and I do feel like it is a good deal and should be a part of your film collection of you are a fan of science fiction.
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