The “Honest Trailers” video series produced by Screen Junkies has a knack for pointing out the most ridiculous elements of popular movies, and the latest installment of the series takes aim The Wachowskis’ recent sci-fi flop Jupiter Ascending with — unsurprisingly — hilarious results.
Calling the film “the last time anyone will give the Wachowskis money,” the skewering of the 2015 film calls out everything from the overly complicated plot and questionable casting choices to Channing Tatum’s over-the-top wolf-ears and eyeliner. The video eventually resorts to running through the basic plot of the film in order to hammer home its argument that it just might be crazier than the movie many regard as the worst sci-fi film ever made, John Travolta’s Battlefield Earth.
Released back in February, Jupiter Ascending followed the adventures of Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a human woman who learns that she’s the heir to a cosmic throne and soon finds herself caught in an intergalactic struggle for power. A human-wolf hybrid named Cain Wise (Tatum) serves as her bodyguard, and the pair embark on a journey that takes them to far-off planets and sees Jupiter become the focal point of a royal family’s internal rivalry.
While the poor critical and box-office reception to Jupiter Ascending would seem to support Honest Trailers’ assertions of a brutally bad film, it’s worth noting that the parody series found a similar amount of flaws in two of last year’s most widely praised films, Guardians of the Galaxy and Interstellar. “Honest Trailers” is, after all, a comedy series.
That being said, it’s hard not to find the humor in the narrator’s description of the film as “Cinderella in Space,” as well as its request to have Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything actor Eddie Redmayne’s award rescinded due to his performance in Jupiter Ascending.
The film earned only slightly more at the worldwide box office ($181 million) than it cost to make ($176 million), making it one of the year’s most prominent “flops,” according to industry analysts. Reviews of the film also trended toward the negative, making it a critical and commercial disappointment.
