Do the Wachiowskis Have One More Chance With Jupiter Ascending?

Check out the fantabulous trailer for their 2014 tentpole, but it wasn’t that long ago that the Wachiowskis came on like a house on fire…or was it? Jeez, next year it’s going to be fifteen years since The Matrix reinvented the sci-fi blockbuster, and they were never able to follow it up with anything decent since. 

 

 

Last year’s Cloud Atlas was their big shot at redemption, and it was certainly ambitious, and opinions were very mixed on it. Some appreciated the fact that they didn’t try for an easy blockbuster, others found the movie bloated and unwiedly. Now the Wachiowski’s next shot is Jupiter Ascending, which features Mila Kunis being picked to be the ruler of the universe, and Channing Tatum with pointy spock ears being hired to track her down and save her, a la The Terminator.

Checking out the trailer, it definitely has its Matrixy touches, like the bullet time action choreography, it has state of the art CGI backgrounds, and like Cloud Atlas, it feels a bit pretentious because it’s clear the Wachiowskis are going all out again, trying to make a big sci-fi epic. You certainly can’t expect them to do something small and minimalist like THX-1138…

The movie’s also in 3D (big surprise), and it’s coming on July 25, 2014. It’s certainly been a long time since the Matrix, and we’re not sure if the Wachiowskis can ever recapture their glory days like before, but you have to admire them for putting all their chips on the table like this and gambling big, like they always have.