Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Writers:    Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Cast:         Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean

In a bright and colorful future, a young destitute caretaker gets targeted by the ruthless son of a powerful family, who lives on a planet in need of a new heir, and so she travels with a genetically engineered warrior to the planet in order to stop his tyrant reign.

I generally have problems with films having human/human-like aliens because it is not compatible with the Theory of Evolution. Evolution is such a random process when it comes to the mutations and their survival which means that there is practically no chance of humans evolving independently in a different place. X-Men franchise does not involve Alien life but the characters in it are supposed to be mutants. This is again problematic because a single mutation won't lead to creation of such individuals and if at all it were to happen, it would have to happen over a large amount of time with many generations carrying the mutation. You can of course say it is a work of fantasy and you needn't look at the plausibility of the central theme, but I just can't help it. I just took X-Men series as an example and almost all these kind of films like Superman, Guardians of Galaxy etc suffer from the same problem of being ludicrous when looked from an evolutionary angle.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the central plot of Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending since it is structured around the concept of Evolution with a respectably plausible idea. They get away with having alien human characters by explaining that they were the original humans who have reached a very advanced level in terms of knowledge and technology. In evolution, the goal is survival of genes and this is done by replication through reproduction which means that the individual carrier dies out. In Jupiter Ascending universe, the super-humans in it wants to preserve their body and thus time is the most precious commodity. They manage to extend their life by replenishing the cells in their body by using a 'truth serum' which is made out of other human beings. So in order to produce these serums they populate planets with humans by introducing them into its environment and letting it evolve. When the number of humans in a particular planet reaches the maximum amount that it can support, they are harvested to make the serums. One might ask why they cannot just clone it and it is explained in the film that cloning led to problems with the serum almost causing the extinction of humankind. So Earth is one such planet where pre-cursor to human life form were introduced after the controlled extinction of dinosaurs. You can still pick holes in this theory but it is far better than the usual sci-fi based fantasy films in terms of plausibility. 

So the basic plot is that there is a big powerful family with three heirs and the oldest son (Eddie Redmayne)  owns Earth. He has got a younger brother and sister and all three are at odds with each other. They inherited the family wealth after their mother was murdered. Jupiter (Mila Kunis), a resident from Earth has got exact genes of that queen through sheer randomness of evolution and thus she is sort of a reincarnation. The queen had mentioned in her will that if such a scenario were to occur some of her wealth will be inherited by the reincarnated being and so Jupiter can lay claim to Earth if she wants. So the entire film is really about a property dispute within a family with all three siblings trying to control Jupiter through seduction and deceit. All this leaves ample scope for boring CGId fight scenes to take place in head-ache inducing 3D. I fucking hate that they still feel the need to make films in this format when it actually distracts you from the film without adding anything meaningful to the experience. The script is kind of lame with Mila Kunis not at all being helpful with her average acting. Others are alright and I didn't even mind Redmayne's hammy performance. I don't want to criticize the script too much because the story is kind of complex to be executed without feeling too expository. Good on them to make a really original film. It is absolutely bonkers in a very good way. Like Mark Kermode put it, you will laugh at the film in some places but also laugh with it. Obvious comparison to make would be with Guardians of Galaxy which also came out last year. GoG scores in terms of wit and characters but Jupiter Ascending is far better in terms of story and execution of action sequences. Overall I found Jupiter to be a good watch and it is a shame that it got such terrible reviews. It is better to aim high and fall than play safe with stereotyped stories and characters.

As for Wachowskis, their best work is of course the first Matrix film with the lesbian neo-noir debut, Bound, coming second. V for Vendetta, which they wrote by adapting Alan Moore's graphic novel, was quite decent. I haven't seen Cloud Atlas, which got mixed reviews with extreme opinions, mainly because am not too enamored by its cast. I would like to read that novel first before watching the film.

Rating: 3/5

                                                                     

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Directors: Wachowski Siblings
Writers:    Wachowski Siblings
Cast:         Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne

The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.

The final film in the Matrix Trilogy is the weakest of the three. The problem with it is that after the meeting Neo had with the architect at the end of the Matrix Reloaded, everything was up in the air with some people even interpreting that Zion was another Matrix within the Matrix. In terms of philosophy and plot twists, reloaded was great and what happens after that in Revolutions is a bit of a letdown. It is kind of all over the place with a preference to Eastern philosophy with some ramblings on Karma, Love, Light & Darkness and all that. There is also some allusion to Yin-Yang with respect to the place of Neo and Smith in the whole setup. All that said, the action sequences are better than the one in Reloaded basically because there is some clear narrative to it rather than a show-off feel.

Some people still cling on to Zion being another Matrix interpretation and I don't think it stand up to scrutiny based on what they show in Revolutions. I think we can more or less trust what the Architect explains in Reloaded and the choice that Neo makes at that point is supposed to make everything unpredictable. He chose to return to Zion instead of helping the architect in rebooting the matrix and picking up survivors from Zion to repopulate it. This meant that machines are going to kill all in Zion and system crash of Matrix will kill all connected to it and thus destroy all mankind. As machines lay siege on Zion, Neo go to the machine city to offer the peace treaty as both Machines and Humans now have a common enemy in Agent Smith. Neo sacrifices himself and that is about it. The final scene has Oracle and Architect having a discussion on the situation at end where the Zion and Matrix coexist. People who want out from the matrix are free to join Zion and I suppose the war will again start once people from Matrix start to move in trove to Zion. 

All that said, it is still a great watch even though you kind of feel there wasn't much in it when compared to the other two films. The philosophy associated with it is a bit binary and Hippie. The acting talentlessness of  Keanu Reeves also come to the fore and script also presents plenty of cliched sequences, especially in Zion. When I saw it for the first time there was much time gap between the other two. This time round I saw all three pretty close together and I enjoyed it more than the other times.

Rating: 3.5/5 

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Directors: Andy Wachowksi, Lana Wachowski
Writers:    Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Cast:         Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Neo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,000 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. Morpheus believes that he can prevent this by getting Neo to the Source to fulfill the prophecy. The whole film  is a buildup to Neo's meeting with the Architect who can be interpreted as the God (Creator) of the matrix.

 The story progresses significantly through three meetings and the three overly long action sequences associated with them. First one is Neo meeting Oracle and the Kill Bill like action sequence with 'more and more' agent Smith's. The second one is the meeting with Merovingian and the highway action sequence. The third one is meeting with architect which completely flip many of the assumptions that the characters themselves had about their own existence. Unlike the first film, the balance is not quite right but still I enjoyed it more than I thought I would this time round. 

One may wonder about the reliability of explanations given to Neo by these three people but if we go by their words, especially of that of architect, this is the second version of the Matrix. The first one was created as a perfect world like the Garden of Eden in Bible and it ended up as a disaster because of lack of choice. So the second one (Serpent & the apple) was created with a seemingly false sense of freewill which worked for the majority 99.9% of people in the matrix. The rest would always free themselves from the matrix to form the Zion and 'The One' is a systemic anomaly in the matrix. The Oracle, who is referred to as the mother of the Matrix, with her prophecies about 'The One' gives a purpose to the people of Zion but the machines just use 'The One' to selectively destroy the Zion and reboot this version of Matrix. It has been rebooted five times and Neo is in the sixth iteration. All of this is explained by the architect to him and he can choose either to cooperate with him and save the people in the matrix by helping him selectively destroy the Zion or go back to the futile resistance causing all of their deaths. 

In a way some people will feel that they were deceived by the directors since all the events leading up to the meeting with the source/architect is along the expected lines as desired by the machines. I don't have a problem with it because there are plenty of clues given leading up to it. Both Oracle and Merovingian talks about the versions of the One, comparison with the previous versions, expectations about the next version etc. Then there is also the talk about control especially in the scene between Neo and the leader of Zion where the latter appears to doubt whether Zion itself is a form of control exerted by machines on them even though they think they are free. Snake in the Garden of Eden must have also been created by God and if that is the case he/she also desired that the humans will disobey given a choice. One could view this version of God as a creator who does not take operational control of his creation and just watch from sidelines how it is going to play out which I am led to believe is similar to the role of Brahma in Hindu mythology. I am not well versed with the mythological aspects of various religions since I don't give a fuck about them and so many of the symbolism that they have included in the film is lost on me. Still it is worthwhile to dissect it because vast majority of people in this world are still influenced by it. Even in the developed world where religion does not play a vital role, I think majority of people live a life akin to slavery tied to their jobs, desires or social conformance. 

I still feel the whole Neo-Trinity love angle in the film is a weak point even though it is central to the plot. One reason for it is the script itself which is not that great during those scenes and also the unconvincing portrayal by Keanu Reeves who is not a even a good actor. In terms of meat in the story second one in the trilogy is the most significant even though it kind of gets diluted by the plethora of action scenes. It also dilutes the significance of first film somewhat with the revelation about the iterations in matrix but first one still works very well because of its subtext message about capitalism.

Rating: 4/5

The Matrix (1999)

Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Writers:    Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Cast:         Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

I saw the film for the first time shortly after it got released through my cousins from Australia who were here for vacation. The film was shot in Australia (Sydney) at around $60 million since it would have cost around $160 million if it was made in US. That sits well for the film because the cities in it lacks an identity which wouldn't have been the case if it was shot in a well known city in US. I didn't understand much of the film when I saw it (14 years old dude), and apart from the cool action sequences, only thing I could remember was Thomas Anderson getting interrogated in an uncomfortable fashion by Agent Smith. I also saw Matrix Reloaded when it came just for the action sequences. I saw the trilogy properly in order and with understanding in and around 2007 and have seen the first one, Matrix, numerous times since. Unlike the other two in the trilogy, it holds up well because it has got a good balance of story, philosophy, intrigue and action. 'Matrix Reloaded' put too much stress on action and the last one 'Matrix Revolutions' was just about mildly interesting. Many people have castigated the trilogy as a whole because of the low standards of last two films, but I think it is unfair on 'The Matrix' since it works well as a standalone film. 

The Wachowskis approached Warner Brothers with their idea and the studio balked at giving $80 million for the director duo whose only previous experience was making the lesbian noir film 'Bound'. In stead they gave them $10 million to see how it goes and Wachowskis spent that amount entirely for the opening ten minutes action sequence involving Carrie-Anne Moss (her first major film). Impressed by the footage they green-lit the project. The film is supposed to  be heavily influenced by Japanese manga 'Ghost in the Shell' which I haven't seen. The story which blends religious elements, mythology, sci-fi and action is a perfect recipe for a studio blockbuster which stand up really well when compared to the Superhero/Comic Book/Sequel-Prequel-Reboot shitfest that we are getting used to off late. In that sense even the subsequent films in the trilogy are also better when compared to the recent blockbusters since it at least is original for a Hollywood film.

The role of Neo was originally offered to Will Smith, Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio. All of them refused and Keanu Reeves, whose long career as an actor is a miracle, landed the role. The fact that even he couldn't wreck the film is testament to the high standard of the concept and how revolutionary was its production quality. To be fair to Mr. Reeves, he was kind of perfect for the role because he was not made to deliver many lines and most of it were questions. In terms of acting, the excellent Hugo Weaving steals the show. Gary Oldman and Samuel L Jackson were approached for the role of Morpheus before it ended up with Laurence Fishburne.

It is interesting that 'The Truman Show' also came out that year and both of these films spawned paranoia syndromes associated with their concepts. The idea that it is a simulated world that we are living in is also something that some scientists are considering as a possibility. As artificial intelligence is becoming more and more advanced it is not inconceivable that we can create a simulated universe using it. The other sci-fi films prior to it that dealt with AI like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and Stanley Kubrick's AI which came out later were strictly in the old school sci-fi territory of ultra seriousness. Wachowskis made it cool and for the masses without dumbing down the idea too much. I read that studio insisted on making the film to be more expositionary as they feared that the initial script was too vague for many to understand. That is the only drawback of the film since some of those lines don't stand up well during repeated viewing (and that stunt training scene involving Morpheus and Neo). But the blue pill-red pill sequence would still rank high up if you are making a list of the coolest exposition scenes. 

Overall its one of the best sci-fi/fanatsy/action films of all time which should be judged as a standalone film without using its shittier sequels as a stick to beat it with.

Rating: 5/5