Science Fiction Aficionados discussion

So I saw Jupiter Ascending yesterday and I was both underwhelmed and mildly annoyed. I was reminded of all those Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal sci-fi comics from Europe that are full of stunning visuals and exquisite drawings in the service of silly, dopey stories.

There are flashes of cleverness here and there - the 'truth' about crop circles and alien abductions were good for a chuckle and clearly, a budget in the $175 million range can buy megatons of eye candy. But the narrative lurched in fits and starts when it should have breathlessly zipped along like a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon (or A Perils of Pauline serial - that's basically Mila Kunis's role in the story).

I also couldn't help being reminded while watching Jupiter Ascending of the writings of Cordwainer Smith:

Gene-spliced human/animal hybrids - the Underpeople who were recurring figures in so many of Smith's stories.
Incredibly precious and coveted life-extension drug - Stroon.
The Boy (or girl in the case of JA) Who Owns the Earth - Rod McBan in the novel Norstrilia or Genevieve in the novella On the Gem Planet.
Super-powerful humans who hold the fate of millions in their hands - the Instrumentality of Mankind

I'm not bringing Smith up to make some facile "Dood, Jupiter Ascending is such a rip-off of -" but I wonder why I find his work so unique and memorable (even as it veers from rigorous world-building science fiction into anything-goes folklore) while JA (which also seems closer to fantasy than sf) struck me as silly and plodding.

And a year back when the trailers to JA first started running, the hyper-baroque style and feuding space lords made me think of the fun - and sadly overlooked - novel Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams.

ah, Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorites. love seeing him mentioned.

Just saw it tonight. Many special effects... and (view spoiler)[ Sean Bean didn't die! (hide spoiler)]