The Matriarch. Pretty much all information about what she was like comes from her children, all of whom are Unreliable Narrators.
Kalique. Is she actually in denial of the family business' nature, or does she just want to ease Jupiter into it (since she's the only one of the three at least not initially planning to kill her)?
Jupiter Jones. According to the Wachowskis, they wanted to evoke a protagonist akin to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and avoid having her use her fists instead of her empathy. Whether or not this was a good decision is up to the viewer. One camp considers her a Pinball Protagonist even as that character type goes, not to mention she gets a lot of Character Shilling that isn't quite warranted. Another camp feels that she behaves realistically, given her circumstances, and goes through some Character Development to justify her prior passivity. A third lies somewhere in the middle, feeling that Jupiter was a good attempt at a subversion of Real Women Don't Wear Dresses, but could have used a couple of rewrites to become a better character.
Balem Abrasax. Some viewers find him extremely entertaining to watch due to Eddie Redmayne's way-over-the-top performance, while others hate him for the exact same reasons.
Bile Fascination: The story is a popular target of hatred due to it being so ludicrous, which is probably the main reason for curious moviegoers to give it a watch.
While it didn't gather enough critical or commercial success to warrant a franchise, it did garner a fanbase—especially among female sci-fi fans who appreciate the campy nature and idiosyncratic take on gender roles. Quite a few found it to be an archetypal teenage girl's first fanfic brought to life on the big screen; not good, by any means, but certainly a lot of fun to watch.
The film has a ridiculously huge fanbase within the concept art and VFX community. Around the time of release, many concept artists, especially those who worked on the film, cited it to be "an evolution of the sci-fi genre", and even going so far as to claim that its box office bomb status was due to "the masses not being ready for it".
There are also a number of fans who genuinely love it for its ambition and lack of irony, a welcome change from most modern blockbusters, as well Mila Kunis' and Channing Tatum's performances.
Fan Nickname: Some have taken to call the film "That 3070's Show" in reference to That '70s Show, considering Mila Kunis takes a lead role in both works.
Genius Bonus: Stinger explains to Jupiter that the truth birthplace of humanity is in the Cunabulum System. "Incunabulum" is Latin for "birthplace" or "cradle".
The scene where Titus explains to Jupiter what 'nectar' is - and she accidentally drops a container of the fluid, causing her to go into a Heroic BSoD. The true horror arises when you consider the start of the scene when Titus and Jupiter walk into a storage area filled with thousands of the containers, it's implied that the area may be only one of several aboard, and Titus (not to mention Kalique speaking earlier) mention that what Jupiter has seen is an infinitesimal glimpse of the genocide visited upon uncounted worlds filled with human beings just to maintain the supply of 'nectar' to meet the universal demand.
As this movie does have Channing Tatum, there's a bit of it between Caine and Stinger. Their fight when they're reunited is not unlike that of a Slap-Slap-Kiss couple. Stinger is the one person Caine trusts above everyone else and Caine regards Stinger being stripped of his rank as My Greatest Failure.
Kiza: "don't drag me into your male mating rituals"
Les Yay: Jupiter doesn’t seem to have a problem with Katherine walking around in her underwear in the same room, or Kalique stripping naked and bathing in front of her.
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Jupiter and Caine. If something or someone stands in a room with them, they get shipped with them.
Magnificent Bastard: Kalique Abrasax is the most level-headed of the three Abrasax siblings, and the most effective in accomplishing her goals. Upon learning of her psychotic brother Balem's aspiration to summon Jupiter Jones, their mother's genetic reincarnation, Kalique pays off his bounty hunters to instead collect her and to bring her to Kalique. Sacrificing humans for her business and eternal youth but constantly affable, Kalique politely explains Jupiter's situation to her, before Jupiter's bodyguard Caine arrives to protect her. When Caine arrives, Kalique lets the two go amicably and even notes that Jupiter leaving safely and claiming her title was what she wanted all along, completely claiming victory over her brothers and achieving all her goals through one stroke of brilliant planning.
Caine explains to Jupiter that they can't be a couple, seriously and heartfelt-ly, because he has more in common with a dog than with her. And instead of telling him that she doesn't care about things like that, or that being a genetic hybrid doesn't make him inferior, whatever people say… she says she loves dogs. It's so offbeat and out of place that it's hilarious, especially given her equally serious delivery. After Caine leaves moments later, Jupiter winces and repeats it to herself, lampshading just how awkward the line was.
Just about any time Balem switches from his slow, deliberate speaking style to Suddenly Shouting. It always comes out of nowhere and sounds more petulant than threatening. For that matter, Balem's slow manner of speech feels very affected, like he's trying to sound interesting. Nathan Rabin compares this whisper to acting as if "being strangled by ghosts or invisible assassins." Eddie Redmayne later admitted he auditioned for Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens using the exact same performance, which he suspects destroyed his chance for getting it.
I CREATE LIFE... and I destroy it.
Greeghan's line to Caine before Caine kills him is either really threatening or gut-bustingly hilarious.
Greeghan: You hurt me. And I'm going to make you regret it.
One-Scene Wonder: Advocate Bob, an android pro bono lawyer assigned to Jupiter to help her be officially recognized as the rightful owner of Earth.
Questionable Casting: Jupiter Jones can't seem to get another job besides cleaning houses, making it odd that they cast the lovely Mila Kunis to play her. One would think that—although Mila herself says that Jupiter is too lazy to improve her situation—she could at least find a more comfortable job as a receptionist or some other PR figure.
So Bad, It's Good: The Wachowskistried to make a grand space opera à la Star Wars, with laser dogfights in Chicago and a Rags to Riches heroine taking down the evils of space capitalism. Instead, they made a movie populated by bad DeviantArt OCs in which bees recognize space royalty, plot threads dangle like fringe on '70s leather jackets, and a fallen-angel werewolf fights with rocket skates. Best watched with funny friends in all its trashy glory.
Titus proposes to marry Jupiter—who's clearly stated and shown to be uncannily similar to his recently deceased mother in genetic structure, appearance, and personality. Balem also seems disturbingly fixated on his mother, and thus on Jupiter. There's Balem's reaction to seeing a hologram recording of Jupiter bound and gagged in a hospital gown.
The romantic thread in general gets a little icky. Jupiter tries to come onto Caine with the phrase "I love dogs!"
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Many interesting side characters deserved far more screen time, e.g. Kalique (for her cunning), the bounty hunters (just to know their backstory), and Jupiter's family.
The conflict between Jupiter and her mother is only hinted at. The opening narration states that Aleksa became bitter and cynical after her husband was murdered, implying that Jupiter grew up distant from her. Mother and daughter learning to reconnect through the events of the film could have made a good plot. Instead Aleksa is barely featured.
Some feel that the plot wasn't suited for a film's running time and would have been better served as a TV series. Especially given all the interesting characters and locations that didn't get touched on too much in the film.
The premise in general. An ordinary girl from Earth finds out she’s queen of the Earth, which is threatened by her evil… previous incarnation’s children? However, rather than having her stepping up and trying to defend her realm, she spends most of her time getting rescued by her Love Interest before going back home to her crappy cleaning job despite the fact there are still two villains out there murdering billions of lifeforms to make a profit and live forever.
Whereas Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, and Tuppence Middleton overact on purpose as the villainous Abrasax siblings, Mila Kunis commits to the material to make herself entirely believable as the Only Sane Man swept into all the wackiness. One very genuine scene in the film has Titus revealing that humans are being harvested to preserve their youth. Mila's performance is shockingly good there, and probably would have been better had the story been more coherent.
Channing Tatum also imbues Caine with a lot of personality and genuine emotion. He says "I have more in common with a dog than I have with you" with a kind of hopeless bitterness that turns him into a Stoic Woobie of sorts.
Trapped by Mountain Lions: The extended sequence of various aliens chasing Jupiter and Caine around Chicago. Notably, the only plot-relevant thing—Caine's ship getting destroyed, requiring them to find Stinger—happens at the beginning of the scene. The rest is just a series of encounters with aliens who are quickly dealt with and don't come into the plot again. Then again, the entire scene is running on Rule of Cool.
The Un-Twist: Balem is revealed as his mother's murderer in a way that suggests it was supposed to be a dramatic twist. Given that he's established from the beginning to be determined to own the Earth, he's the only obvious culprit from the moment Kalique reveals their mother was murdered.
In an interview after production wrapped, Lana mentioned that the effects in this movie were much more complex than those in Cloud Atlas. They spent a lot of time and energy creating a unique feel for every set, from the claustrophobic and crowded Orous to the ostentation of Titus' ship.
The scene of the hunters chasing Caine and Jupiter around Chicago has some truly stunning cinematography. Some of the shots were pulled off by having helicopters fly around the city, catching as many possible angles as they could.
Aleksa Jones. Maybe not at first, but think about it: she loses her husband at the very beginning of the movie, then her daughter gets kidnapped, and for most of the movie, she's worried sick about her. She and the rest of the family then get kidnapped and almost killed by Balem, and in the end, her mind gets wiped after Jupiter saves her, so that she doesn't remember anything that happened over the past few days. To say she goes through a lot would be correct.
Caine. He's born the runt of his litter, is essentially considered genetically defective even among other Splices, whom the human ruling class treat horribly, manages to claw his way up to legendary soldier status only to be dishonourably discharged for attacking an Entitled, and then spends an uncertain amount of time in the Deadland before being sprung to find Jupiter. Poor guy needs a hug.
, they wanted to evoke a protagonist akin to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and avoid having her use her fists instead of her empathy. Whether or not this was a good decision is up to the viewer. One camp considers her a Pinball Protagonist even as that character type goes, not to mention she gets a lot of Character Shilling that isn't quite warranted. Another camp feels that she behaves realistically, given her circumstances, and goes through some Character Development to justify her prior passivity. A third lies somewhere in the middle, feeling that Jupiter was a good attempt at a subversion of Real Women Don't Wear Dresses, but could have used a couple of rewrites to become a better character.