Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Jupiter Ascending

also known as “El destino de Júpiter,” “A Ascenção de Jupiter,” “Jupiter - Il destino dell'universo,” “Jupiter: Le destin de l'univers,” “O Destino de Júpiter”
MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for some violence, sequences of sci-fi action, some suggestive content and partial nudity.

Reviewed by: Raphael Vera
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Teens
Genre: Sci-Fi Action Adventure Fantasy 3D IMAX
Length: 2 hr. 7 min.
Year of Release: 2015
USA Release: February 6, 2015 (wide—3,150+ theaters)
DVD: June 2, 2015
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Relevant Issues
Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures

love and self-sacrifice for others in a world of evil

ROYALTY of the Bible: kings / queens / princes

Jupiter in the Bible

Extraterrestrials

What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Answer

Are we alone in the universe? Answer

Does Scripture refer to life in space? Answer

questions and answers about the origin of life

Featuring Mila KunisJupiter Jones
Channing TatumCaine
Eddie RedmayneBalem
James D'Arcy
Sean BeanStinger
Douglas BoothTitus
Gugu Mbatha-RawFamulus
Terry Gilliam
Vanessa KirbyKatharine Dunlevy
Kalique Abrasax
Charlotte Beaumont … Kiza
Maria Doyle Kennedy … Aleksa
See all »
Director Andy Wachowski
Lana Wachowski
Producer Village Roadshow Pictures
Warner Bros.
Distributor Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures. Trademark logo.Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) was given her name because Jupiter was on the rise the evening she was born. Her mother felt she was destined for glory, but Jupiter has a hard time believing this while she, and the rest of her family, spend long days cleaning other people’s homes to earn their meager living. But there are those far, far away that have recently learned of her existence and her place in the universe. Some will try to kill her before she learns of it. Others will do all they can to help her.

The House of Abrasax is one of the most powerful dynasties in the galaxy. Led by the brothers Abrasax, Balem (Eddie Redmayne) and Titus (Douglas Booth) and their sister Kalique (Tuppence Middleton), they wield influence and power on a level that all too often leaves targeted planets in utter ruin. All have their own agenda for finding Jupiter, but are just as invested in keeping each other from knowing what their plans are. Soon bounty hunters, morphing aliens and an ex-military hunter named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) are converging on Earth and depending on who gets to her first the fate of Jupiter, Earth and the Abrasax dynasty will hang in the balance.

“Jupiter Ascending” is a visually stunning film directed by the Wachowski’s of “The Matrix” trilogy fame whose intent was to launch the next great space opera franchise. Sure to please some, whose likely audience profile will be discussed shortly, it falls short of achieving its “epic” goal in several areas, including its PG-13 rated content.

Objectionable Content

Violence: Heavy. Mostly bloodless, there are a few scenes that show blood, but in a non-overt manner. The majority of the casualties are aliens of various forms and are usually shot during a melee where individual deaths are hard to focus on. Chicago experiences widespread destruction with buildings and other structures being blown apart, crashed into and, in the case of cars, thrown. Deaths are mostly implied to have occurred, but are not shown. Peril in the form of near suffocations, decompression, fire, explosions and shots from blaster type weapons are frequent. Torture is shown about to be performed twice, but the camera either cuts away or the torture is abated.

Language: Moderate. The curses used included sh** (7), bit**(2), cr** (3), d*mn (1) with The Lord’s name taken in vain 12 times by my count. No other curses were heard which gives this film a relatively low curse count compared to most PG-13 films.

Sex/Nudity: Moderate to heavy. There is an lengthy scene with Jupiter’s friend Katharine as she prepares for a date while wearing exotic underwear and many females are dressed in skin tight leather clothes. Caine’s mostly naked backside is briefly seen when he emerges from water and Kalique exhibits a fully nude view from behind in a very extended scene as she exits a bath. In a bizarre zero gravity scene containing neither nudity nor actual sex a group of girls surround Balem and though they are clothed the sensual movements and the sounds they are making indicate they are there for his pleasure and vice versa. The unfortunate use of gratuitous titillation within a ‘comic book’ style adventure appears aimed at a young, immature and susceptible male audience.

Lessons

EUGENICS—Lord Balem states, “My mother taught me that some lives always matter more than others” as the self-serving rationale he uses for planetary genocide. This is a theme that became popularized via Darwinism whose ‘survival of the fittest’ inspired Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, and was later used to justify Nazi Germany’s disrespect of life starting with the disabled, then the elderly and eventually the Jews. The Word of God teaches that He made us all and that we should in turn protect the life he created.

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” —Psalm 139:13

“You shall not commit murder.” —Exodus 20:13

HUMILITY—Jupiter was raised in a hard working, humbling environment (cleaning toilets), and, while that does not by any means ever ensure humility, she chose to embrace it. After she is garbed in royal robes, the first opportunity she has she asks to be able to change into regular clothes. When given a chance to lord her authority, she rejects this and chooses instead to do menial tasks again. The Word of God has always said that the heart that pleases God will be a humble one and that He himself will reward us.

“You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.” —2 Samuel 22:28

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” —Psalm 25:9

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” —James 4:6

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” —Luke 14:11

MERCY—Jupiter gains the upper hand and has the opportunity to take the lives of her enemies on more than one occasion, and yet she chooses instead to walk away. Despite what they have done, and what they may yet do, she shows mercy. Against the sinful nature in all of us that yearns for vengeance, God calls us, within his strength, to rise above our wants just as His Word both commands and warns:

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” —Romans 12:19

“…because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” —James 2:13

Caine, against his better judgment and despite his loathing of the “entitled” class, takes on the assignment to kidnap Jupiter in order to restore his former commander Stinger, another well played role by the gruff Sean Bean, to his rightful status. Meanwhile, years earlier Stinger had sacrificed his commission and was banished to Earth in order to save Caine from punishment. Friends like this are a blessing and spoken of by Solomon in the Old Testament when he wrote:

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” —Proverbs 18:24

Caine, Stinger and Jupiter, at different times, all put their lives on the line to save others. Jesus Christ exalted this type of love when he said,

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” —John 15:13

I would be remiss if I did not mention here two underlying points in the film: evolution and reincarnation.

The movie presents a hidden origin for man on Earth, namely that we have been planted/seeded here by extraterrestrials. This is not unusual in fantasy-science fiction and one can’t enjoy many films without a certain ‘suspension of disbelief,’ but it is interesting to note that many leading academics are atheists that deny intelligent design (God) yet rely on a different intelligence (aliens) who use science to evolve humans into existence. The Word of God gave us fair warning about this and reminds us of our true origin.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” —Colossians 2:8

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” —Romans 1:25

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth.” —Genesis 1:26

Creation SuperLibrary.comTop choice for accurate, in-depth information on Creation/Evolution. The SuperLibrary is provided by a top team of experts from various respected creationist organizations who answer your questions on a wide variety of topics. Multilingual.

As for reincarnation, or multiple lives, the Bible leaves no doubt as to the truth and is very clear about this.

“We die only once, and then we are judged.” —Hebrews 9:27

REINCARNATION—Does the Bible allow for this possibility? Answer

“Jupiter Ascending” relies heavily on its visuals, special effects and likable leads (Kunis, Tatum) to enthrall the audience, however it is so weighed down by the number of unexplained inconsistencies and contradictory plot points so as to highlight the poor storytelling, not to mention the incredible lack of any real sense of peril. An adventure set amidst the beautiful tapestry of space finds itself strangely devoid of both the thrill and the humor audiences would hope for. For this, and the oddly inappropriate material, I cannot recommend the film, even to its younger intended audience.

Violence: Heavy to extreme / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate to heavy

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—While there is the obvious rejection of the biblical creation, this is a sci-fi movie. The Nudity scenes could have been done away with. …The visual affects were outstanding, especially in 3-D. I like the storyline, it was simple.

The fighting for the agency of mankind, liberty and right to exist is always a positive message. Jupiter wanted to do nothing more than to return to her family, rejecting her royal status. Ultimately, she accepted her royalty in an effort to save mankind, not just her immediate family. Sacrificing oneself for their friends as is the case with Stinger and Caine. Stinger sacrificed his position for Caine, and Caine took on a job for the return of Stinger to his former position.

I think the film speaks against eugenics, shows the evils of it, ultimately, in the end, the Earth wasn’t harvested of humans. This PG-13 rated film was a lot more mild than most of the same rating. It is action packed to capitalize on the visual effects.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Jim Turner, age 43 (USA)
Positive—In agreement with another reviewer in that the Biblical break away is evident, and the nudity is unneeded. However, it still was a pretty good movie, overall. I wouldn’t recommend it for viewers under the age of 15, however. The action is non-stop, and the special effects are amazing. The premise behind the movie is not one that is regularly thrown out there, and does lean toward true science fiction.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Scott, age 48 (USA)
Positive—If you want an escape from life, this is the movie to watch. No one can deny that there is objectionable material, in all sorts of ways. So, all I can say is: if you’re looking for a movie to get somewhat of the worldview right now, then this is one you can watch. You really can’t take this film seriously, from a Christian standpoint, or you’ll just get stressed over all the ridiculousness in it. It was a nice 2 hour get-away from reality, and that’s it.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Abigayle, age 31 (USA)
Neutral
Neutral—This movie contains no significant profanity or sexuality, and, despite the title, there is little astrology. In fact, the heroine describes it as nonsense. The themes are typical of action films: love and sacrifice for others in a world of evil; and the heroine demonstrates a commendable (if illogical) reluctance to kill. It is visually impressive, with Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and big-budget CGI. There is a single promise of prayer, but no mention of God.

Unfortunately, this movie really puts the fiction in science fiction; for example: we can survive in outer space simply by holding our breath?!? A Warner Bros. film, I suspect it was originally written for Bugs Bunny.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Brian Schacht, age 68 (Canada)
Negative
Negative—That is one of the dumbest, most boring movies I have ever seen! Sure, the graphics were good, when they showed them, and they weren't talking all of the time. It had a strong feel like a “Star Trek,” but I thought those movies were way better then this one. It moved much slower than I would have expected. Sure, I can get into a flick that doesn't have some major story line, but this was just outright stupid.

And how pathetic they made the role of the main female actress, how she was acting towards the end got really annoying. I honestly had a hard time staying awake towards the end, and it was 3D!

And those few nude scenes and sex scenes were annoying. Thankfully from reading the detailed review above, I was able to know when they were coming in and shut my eyes.

Honestly, a total waste of my evening to go see this. I would have rather stayed home and done something else. Also there were weird, evil-like creatures which were just creepy. And doing odd things like the main character combining his human self with a wolf, so he was not fully human. That is not of God and a demonic agenda to pull people towards things like that.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Stephanie, age 40 (USA)

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