by Kathie Smith The pop culture crush on Andy and Lana Wachowski began with Bound (1996), a clever noir that took stylistic and thematic risks to satisfying ends. The full-fledged romance commenced with The Matrix, which tapped a pulsing zeitgeist that provoked a response from cultural studies to video games. Unfortunately, what followed was little more than painful reiterations that the honeymoon was over between the audience and the Wachowkis. Reigniting the fire has proven far more difficult for the directing team than everyone had hoped, despite their adventurous explorations of diverging source material in both Tatsuo Yoshida’s inconsequential Speed Racer and David Mitchell’s expansive Cloud Atlas. Although fans may have long given up on the Wachowskis, Jupiter Ascending signaled a potential return to form with their own original screenplay, a headfirst plunge back into pure science fiction, and the unconventional star power of Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. But like the waning patience of Matrix apostles, the news that Jupiter Ascending delivers little more than random flares of interest will likely only draw apathetic shrugs. | Area Theaters Directors: The Wachowskis Producers: Grant Hill, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski Writers: The Wachowskis Cinematographer: John Toll Editor: Alexander Berner Music: Michael Giacchino Cast: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, David Ajala, Bae Doona, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Terry Gilliam Runtime: 127m. Genre: Action/Drama/Sci-fi Country: USA US Theatrical Release: February 6, 2015 US Distributor: Warner Brothers |
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