Review at a glance
Eddie Redmayne — as a fey, mega-neurotic, intergalactic baddie called Balem — is one of the few bright spots in Andy and Lana Wachowski’s expensive sci-fi epic. Mila Kunis looks miserable as the titular Jupiter, a heroine we’re meant to view as gutsy but whose catchphrase, “Holy crap!”, sums up the project’s infinite blandness.
Jupiter works as a cleaner in Chicago but has royal genes. Everyone wants a piece of her and only with the help of handsome, mostly shirtless soldier Caine (Channing Tatum) can she save herself and planet Earth.
Read More
It’s possible that the Wachowskis think what females want from genre pics is more frilly dresses, which would explain why we get as many frocks as fights. But the siblings are stuck in a time warp.
As demonstrated by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 (which involves Katniss in a single costume change), what viewers of both sexes pant over is a decent script. That said, B-movie geeks will be enchanted by the production design, Terry Gilliam cameo and, yes, Balem (a figure surely inspired by Ballin, the effete killer in the 1946 film noir, Gilda).
The film pitches itself as a 21st-century romance. It works better as a daft blast from the past.