Jupiter Ascending

[Luvz2travel]

Saw it and while it was no Matrix I still thought it was entertaining. Had action, great sets even in cgi. Never takes itself too seriously either.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

The visuals were great. Subtle jabs against capitalism were not and the love story only added to the ‘meh’ factor.

I’d give it a B-.

 

[Viki63]

I enjoyed it. The anti-gravity boots were worth the price of admission. I want them!

Jabs against capitalism – meaning the part in which the royals are planning to harvest humans to create a long-life serum? I don’t think it was aimed at capitalism as much as against using humans as objects. Heaven knows there is enough of that going on today, and no doubt in the future as well.
That was the plot. You can’t have evil guys plotting to kill all the Terrans without having some reason for it, and what better reason than to make money?
You might say that when I criticize human trafficking, I’m against capitalism. No, making a buck is fine. But some things should not be for sale, which the movie gets.
Besides, it’s fun just watching Channing Tatum do leaps and skateboard moves in space.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

You might say that when I criticize human trafficking, I’m against capitalism. No, making a buck is fine. But some things should not be for sale, which the movie gets.
Besides, it’s fun just watching Channing Tatum do leaps and skateboard moves in space.

More like the complete opposite: Capitalists are automatically human traffickers.

Everything from Jupiter getting duped by her cousin to sell her egg cells to the way the main antagonists keep blathering corporate buzzwords like profit and enterprise. This was the film’s most major flop (followed by the blah romance). It characterizes certain business-minded archetypes and casts them all as villains (which leads to the inevitable conclusion that capitalism is somehow an unfeeling money-maker devoid of soul).

Look at the protagonists and you won’t find a single one that tries to better balance out this harsh generalization. They’re either lower class or former grunts, police officers, and mercenaries. This film has an anti-entrepreneurial schtick that tries to pass off as the next Star Wars and Twilight at the same time.

 

[Viki63]

It characterizes certain business-minded archetypes and casts them all as villains (which leads to the inevitable conclusion that capitalism is somehow an unfeeling money-maker devoid of soul).:

You’re probably right.
Then again, I’m not a big fan of capitalism in the healthcare market, and that doubtless colors my opinions of capitalists in general.
I don’t actually think that movie makers put a lot of thought into their plots – that seems to be the last on their list. Which is why they’re often so disappointing.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

You’re probably right.
Then again, I’m not a big fan of capitalism in the healthcare market, and that doubtless colors my opinions of capitalists in general.

Healthcare is just one industry and that’s probably a part of the problem when writers badly characterize something. It’s why I cringe every time I see a movie that demonizes the profit motive or the necessity of sacrificing something for more efficiency/output. In some industries, the opposite attitude is bound to do more harm than good.

Suppose a man refuses to pull the weeds out of his garden because he has some quasi-Buddhist notion that all life is sacred. The result is that his crop yield is poor and that only justifies him further because he doesn’t want to be some monster capitalist sacrificing innocent weeds for the sake of efficiency. But really, who are we kidding? The man is a fool. Human life isn’t the same as that of weeds. Why the movie’s creators didn’t simply adopt this more logical direction is beyond me.

Money isn’t all black and white. Movies like Jupiter Ascending, for all the awesome visuals, have an infantile simplification of what a real enterprise is. And if this is any indication, Christians aren’t alone in Hollywood’s recent failures to deliver.

Then again, maybe they’re hoping to make it big in the summer like last year. I’m personally excited for Jurassic World.

 

[Viki63]

No doubt you’re right. I am actually a teenager at heart.

Then again, I haven’t made any movies and I expect it’s harder than it looks. I respect anyone who makes the effort.
I am also looking forward to Jurassic World – the more dinosaurs on the rampage, the better.