career injection

The leaps and Bounds the Wachowskis need to avoid another Jupiter- sized flop.

When Jupiter Ascending was in prep, Lana and Andy Wachowski played the tease with planned set-pieces. Phrases like “the new bullet-time” circulated as a chopper-hanging rig was devised for an anti-gravity chase through Chicago. The sky-boots pursuit itself brought a rush of levity to a stodgy film: but the words ‘ Starlight Express’ did ping to mind.

In short, gravity won. Despite their FX pizzazz and laudable commitment to original filmmaking, the Wachowskis have become near-synonymous with the mismatch between extravagant ambition and flawed narrative execution. The filmmakers who belly-flopped to Earth, perhaps? That’s a bit harsh, but Jupiter Ascending did flop.

The warning signs were there, of course. The Matrix was the bar-raising ’90s actioner, but the sequels squandered grand conceptual free-think on joint-stiffened highway fights and space-cave raves. Despite its FX strengths, Speed Racer stiffed harder still. A potential treat emerged duller than Cars 2: a sugar-rush CG high let down by axle-grinding storytelling.

Even recent career upswings have lurched erratically. A pleasingly over-ambitious team-up with Tom Tykwer to adapt David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas drew mixed responses: bewitched (“Wow, existential brain-shag!”), bewildered (“Bored now…”), bemused (“Why is Tom Hanks wearing that stupid conk?”). Last year, Netflix series Sense8 spread out a trippy mind-meld mystery over 12 episodes, but all it led to was a mess-mash of so-so action, sexual fantasy and sappy romance.

As for Jupiter, the failure of that grand folly has seen die-hard fans lamenting the shift towards a franchise-dominated landscape, away from original visions. Lana has agreed, arguing that post-9/11 audiences rely on easy certainties in uncertain times. What chance does the Wachowskis’ self-proclaimed “unique and complex” mindset have, the claim goes, in timid times?

The argument almost convinces… Until it doesn’t. While the Wachowskis’ romantic individualism is welcome in theory, Jupiter hardly bursts with complex originality. For wit and style, the best MCU entries thrash it; for big and bold, Gravity and Interstellar whup it. True, it’s hard to see studios splashing millions on a Wachowski film now. But maybe that will work in everyone’s favour. The Matrix aside, the Wachowskis’ noir-ish debut Bound is their most focused film. Something of its no-budget kind might reboot our faith. Then let’s talk sky-boots. KH