Posterized: The Wachowski Siblings
Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 8:21AM 
Lana and Andy WachowskiWe have an early contender for movie that's most fun to read about this year. Andy and Lana Wachowski's latest, their lucky (?) number seven, Jupiter Ascending has arrived. It is apparently a doozy and your definition of that word will vary. Between insane costumes, insaner plot, insanest characters including Channing Tatum as a some sort of wolfish alien, and Eddie Redmayne as Glenn Close (?) with gigantic mouth and abs for days it promises to be memorable at least. Even if the memories are mostly of "What is Happening To My Eyes?"
But then the Wachowskis have been doing that since their blockbuster breakthrough The Matrix (1999). Indeed the only film of theirs that seems "controlled" in the classic sense of 'this movie is perfectly constructed, awesome, and insanely watchable without being actually insane' was their very first: the lesbian noir Bound (1996). For my money it's still their very best and still criminally underappreciated possibly because it's so atypical in that the only visual effects are how impossibly sexy and clever Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly are.
How many of their seven oddities have you seen?
I've seen them all -- or rather I will since I'm hitting Jupiter tomorrow or Saturday. The Wachowskis have the singular dinstinction of being the only directors in history to earn both an "A" (Bound) and an "F" (Cloud Atlas) grade within their filmography from yours truly.
I'm kind of hoping that Jupiter Ascending earns both.
Reader Comments (37)
Two great first features and everything else is shit. I have no idea how they keep getting money. They need to stop it with the visual effects and tell an actual story.
Bound, Matrix and Cloud Atlas. I don't like them at all.
Nat, have you seen Cloud Atlas since coming out of the bad fever you were having at the time (if my memory serves)? I found it to be fascinating, despite the bad make-up jobs. It was a hot mess of action, history, romance, comedy. Yeah it may have been stupid and tonally all-over-the-place, but it had me thinking about it for days after, wondering what the links between the stories were and, therefore, what the overall point of it was. Which I appreciate much more than something like The Imitation Game.
Cloud Atlas is such an A
Cloud Atlas was my best picture pick, so I disagree with you on that. Bound is under seen.
I've only seen Cloud Atlas, which I LOVED.
I too thought CLOUD ATLAS wasn't that bad. Anything with that much ambition, regardless of execution, should never receive an F (in my opinion of course).
I haven't seen Bound and Speed Racer. Might see Jupiter Ascending this weekend.
The Matrix sequels bring down their whole filmography. You did not think to grade them with an F? They are valueless exercises in wrong. Cloud Atlas has a whole bunch going for it. Both you're not a fan of Hanks nor Berry.
Yeah, give Cloud Atlas a second look some time. I really liked it the first time I saw it, but loved it more and more after watching it two more times.
I've seen everything except Speed Racer, and mostly like them all. Yes The Matrix series was a case of diminishing returns, but Reloaded is still one hell of an action movie and Revolutions is not nearly as awful as everyone tries to make it out to be. And Cloud Atlas just takes my breath away. There are some moments so stunning that they completely make up for the parts that might be lacking. I love that the Wachowskis are a consistently ORIGINAL voice in sci-fi/action cinema. Yes, I wish they would strip things down and give us a Bound-level unqualified smash, but I will take the gonzo action for as long as they keep bringing it.
I love Cloud Atlas and The Matrix.
Hated Speed Racer and The Matrix sequels.
Haven't seen Bound but now I'm really curious to watch it.
Will definitely be seeing Jupiter Ascending this weekend.
I think you should give Cloud Atlas a second chance. As others have said, it really does improve upon repeat viewings. Beautiful film.
I've seen them all, and I like them all except for Cloud Atlas, a terrible book that the Wachowskis nearly managed to make into a decent movie. Nearly.
My favorites are Bound, The Matrix, and Speed Racer. Bound was one of the great 90s calling card movies, The Matrix is obviously one of the seminal action/sci fi movies of all time. The sequels are very much their own, different, bizarre thing - philosophically rigorous and patently absurd at the same time, not really *good* but fascinating in a way that's way more valuable to me than the mechanical "good story well told" TV-style storytelling of most recent blockbusters.
Speed Racer, meanwhile, is criminally underappreciated, a batshit crazy anti-capitalist action movie made for $120m on Warner Brothers' dime. It's practically an avant garde film that, viewed today, is still years ahead of its time on a formal level, and hilarious, sweet, thematically resonant and exciting as all hell. I wonder how many people who raved for The Lego Movie last year noticed that it was basically a watered down remake/ripoff - in terms of style, theme and narrative arc - of Speed Racer?
I've seen them all except Speed Racer. And yes, the Jennifer Tilly/ Gina Gershon casting of Bound is so satisfyingly right.
But the Jupiter Ascending lead casting just makes me sad. I wish Doona Bae could have been the lead again. When I think "DNA that will save the universe" I can't believe that it's Mila Kunis. I keep thinking of the James Franco Oz movie and how Kunis couldn't pull off her witch part, unlike co-stars Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz.
One thing I really appreciated about Cloud Atlas was that its action sequences were SHORT. The sequences were clearly photographed, and fit neatly into the action, and didn't linger. They made their point and moved on.
Bound, Matrix and half of the second Martix.
Bound is still one of my favorite all time films. I can't see a woman driving a pickup truck without thinking of it. Best J Tilly performance ever and Gina Gershon and Joey Pants were pretty delicious as well.
I've seen them all except the first one (don't hate) and the last one, and the only one I really really liked is Matrix. The only one I really really didn't like was Revolutions. The other three are variously interesting.
I've seen Bound and The Matrix Triology and I currently watch Cloud Atlas. Not bad so far.
I love Bound, because it's smoking hot.
As for Matrix.... The Sequels aren't that bad either, but I wished they'd never been made, because the first film is just great.
I love that these guys exist, Matrix blew me away, and Cloud Atlas fascinated me. I haven't seem Bound or Speed Racer so I should check those out.
Jupiter Ascending looks like it will crash, but I love them for trying this type of ambitious bonkers type of film. I would rather see something like this than Iron Man 4.
All of them. Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer are certainly not "bad" films in comparison to really bad films, like Battlefield Earth, and I rank them WAY higher than the Matrix sequels. I'm sure I'll be dragged to Jupiter Ascending in the next couple of weeks, but every time that trailer airs, I'm with Nathaniel, "What is happening to my eyes!"
I still stand by my list. 😘
Only the Matrix movies and Cloud Atlas. It's amazing how influential they are when their filmography has been so disappointing.
They fascinate me -- on one hand they are the rare mainstream filmmakers who possess true revolutionary spirt. Their films rebel against the excesses and cruelties of power, but from a utopian point of view. (The changes they made to the novel's future/clone segment in "Cloud Atlas" turned the message from something deeply cynical to something purely heroic). ..... On the other hand they often seem not to have control over the tone of their work. Is it knowingly tongue-in-cheek or unintentionally campy? Exhibit A: Eddie Redmayne in the trailer for JUPITER,(which I can't wait to see).
I've seen 4:
The Matrix: B-
The Matrix 2&3: C
Speed Racer: C+ (Beau: I wouldn't say the LEGO Movie toned down everything about Speed Racer. More, I'd say it toned down the colour palate that nauseated most people and kept the stuff that worked in theory but was tanked by being placed next to that aesthetic style).
San FranCinema: I admire that too. The next closest to that idea of the tentpole rebel in any format I've heard of would maybe be Volition, the developers of the Saints Row and Red Faction franchises.
I'll also chime in for support of Cloud Atlas. Not everything in it works, but a lot does and it's entertaining as hell and Ben Wishaw's story was surprisingly moving.
But Jupiter Ascending makes me seriously question if they even have eyeballs at this point. I'm all for bold casting choices. Channing Tatum has some half-dog alien or whatever? Fine. But how could you put that facial hair on him and think, "yes! That's it! That's the look I'm going for!"
Oh, yeah, I've seen 4. The Matrix trilogy and CA. I don't know how I've missed Bound all these years.
All of them but "Cloud Atlas" and the new one. I'm still coming down for the sugar rush that was "Speed Racer" So. Much. COLOR!!!!
I'll take bonkers action spectacles like THE MATRIX, SPEED RACER and JUPITER ASCENDING over another ten Earth-bound Marvel movies. At least they get given giant astronomical budgets and you can see where it goes. I haven't the foggiest idea where the money goes in most Marvel movies, which look like they cost about half of their 9-digit budgets. SPEED RACER is excellent in spite of its reputation. I certainly think it was ahead of its time - and certainly a few years later with 3D and I think it may have been technologically even more impressive.
BOUND is surely still their best though, but such an anomaly that it's weird comparing them.
JUPITER ASCENDING is crazy and preposterous, and there are scenes that a boring or don't make much sense, but its chutzpah is impressive. And if you want to there are many fascinating ways to read into the film as a trans allegory (much like CLOUD ATLAS, but not as muted and not with terrible Tom Hanks and terrible Halle Berry).
The amount of pro-Cloud Atlas love in this thread is making me feel all warm and cozy. Seen all but JA (going on Saturday in IMAX), but I need to re-watch Speed Racer one of these days. Other than that, I love or at least admire everything that's not a Matrix sequel.
Glenn Dunks: In terms of budget? The only one where I really wasn't able to see the budget on the screen was the first Captain America, but I also understand why: I can't help but think that Captain America: The First Avenger was at least WRITTEN as, and had unused pre-production props and sets gathered to be, a full-blown miniseries and was repurposed into a movie after the Ant-Man movie got pushed back AND Incredible Hulk stalled out a second time. Some of those unused props and sets are likely being used on Agent Carter.
Iron Man 1, 2 & 3: Making the suit look as good as possible.
The Incredible Hulk: Making The Hulk look as good as possible.
Thor: The ending machine (still a better robot than TARS. Seriously: Who thought "Talking Jenga Monolith" was a good design idea for a robot?), bits of Asgard, building that town. Don't know if I buy $150 million, but it's at least $100 million.
The Avengers: Iron Man Armor, Helicarrier, Chitauri. Boom, boom, boom. That takes MONEY.
Thor: The Dark World: I buy that's $170 million a bit more than the original Thor is $150 million, at least.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Helicarrier, Falcon, traffic action scenes.
@Volvagia: Er, not, Captain America was always going to be a movie. It was one of the original announced titles for Marvel's cinematic universe, and Captain America is one of the mainstays of the Avengers.
OMG Bound is everything. Like, go now, you won't regret it.
Cloud Atlas was an interesting mess with beautiful music and I'm less of a fan of The Matrix than nearly everyone else and I couldn't even bother with the sequels despite promise in the second one. Speed Racer's visuals, and the racing scenes in particular, were pretty amazing on the big screen but the rest of the movie was flat. Will probably get around to seeing Jupiter Ascending sometime this year, maybe on its eventual HBO premiere. Idk, I don't find Mila Kunis too much of a compelling screen presence.
They really just need to make more movies and stop worrying so much about the visuals if the stories are gonna be so.. basic. Also, their obsession with The One hero trope is super played out at this point.
Shouldn't F's be reserved for just the worst excuses of Hollywood - like the Clash of the Titans and movies like that? At least Cloud Atlas tried something.
It's like school - you failed but you TRIED so C-?
They have never topped " The Matrix" which they almost ruined by those crappy sequels.
Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions are my least favorite.
Saw Jupiter Ascending tonight. It's very entertaining and imaginative, though some of the action sequences seemed rote.
The Wachowskis will never not have my attention (and probably ticket money too!).
And as for Cloud Atlas, loved it then, love it now, and might rewatch it this weekend! :)
I watched the first two Matrixes (slept while watching the second so I never bothered with the third), and Cloud Atlas, which I really liked.
Another vote for Speed Racer as a seriously underrated film that was widely misunderstood and written off as kiddie junk. Not everything in it works, but it's so fascinating and innovative, it's not afraid to get sappy at the right moments (I love John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as the parents, and Christina Ricci is nearly the sweetist thing ever photographed), and it's an absolute visual feast. As observed, it's fascinatingly anti-capitalist for a big budget film (kinda like their adaptation of V For Vendetta: it takes real guts to make a movie whose protagonist is an anarchist terrorist in a post 9/11 world!) and loaded with batshit creative storytelling techniques.
I have mixed feelings about their other films. Cloud Atlas was so crazy ambitious that I can forgive all the stuff in it that didn't quite work. But I'm absolutely NOT a fan of The Matrix... I didn't even bother to see the sequels. I vastly prefer the similarly plotted but widely ignored and forgotten Dark City, released a year earlier.
I've seen all of them. Bound was solid but nothing I ever need to see again; The Matrix is one of my favorite films; Reloaded was a major disappointment but watchable; I actually preferred Revolution to Reloaded; Speed Racer wasn't all that good; I actually liked Cloud Atlas when I first saw it but the make up was ridiculous and I've had no strong desire to see it again; And I saw Jupiter Ascending today and it was a complete dud.
Overall, they peaked with The Matrix for me and after "Jupiter Ascending", I don't know if I'm up for seeing anymore.
Cloud Atlas is a film where one has to take that leap of faith and just allow the experience to engulf them into the world that The Wachowskis/Tykwer are going to tell. You either have to allow yourself to go there or else it's all for naught. I found it to be messy and crazy but nonetheless one immersive & rewarding cinematic experience. The last 10 minutes of it (not to mention the score) just gets to me everytime. Furthermore, this is a Doona Bae film so there's that!
Even at the risk of falling flat on their faces, I still find it somewhat better for them as filmmakers/artists and for us as audiences & lovers of cinema that they fail while aiming for the stars than succeeding & reaching for mediocrity.