JUPITER ASCENDING ** (12A, 127 mins) Starring Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Tuppence Middleton, Douglas Booth, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Ajala, Doona Bae

HOLLYWOOD needs – but probably couldn’t afford – more filmmakers like Lana and Andy Wachowski.

In 1999, the Chicago-born siblings pioneered the slow-motion “bullet time” effect in The Matrix and its impenetrable sequels, and delivered an admirable yet flawed rendering of David Mitchell’s supposedly unfilmable novel, Cloud Atlas.

The Wachowskis are daredevils, willing to go out on a limb to realise their epic visions, even if the limb snaps under the weight of their bold ambition.

The bough certainly breaks during Jupiter Ascending, a bombastic space opera with a muddled narrative glued together by jaw-dropping digital trickery.

In 3D and IMAX, the writer-directors serve up a feast for the senses, choreographing aerial battles at dizzying speed to the propulsive clatter of Michael Giacchino’s score.Once the computer-generated dust settles and the good-looking cast attempts to distil the plot, you sense any logic was jettisoned out of an airlock to accommodate state-of-the-art thrills.

The queen of the royal alien house of Abrasax is murdered, leaving behind three heirs: Balem (Eddie Redmayne), his sister Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) and playboy younger brother Titus (Douglas Booth).

The siblings own various planets which they harvest for resources, and the most valuable is Earth, which belongs to greedy Balem. In an outrageous quirk of genetic fate, Balem learns an immigrant cleaner, Jupiter Jones, (Mila Kunis) possesses a rare DNA combination which matches his late mother and entitles her a claim to Earth. He dispatches creatures to slay Jupiter so possession reverts to him.

Meanwhile, Titus scents an opportunity to usurp his older sibling and hires a genetically engineered ex-military hunter called Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) to protect Jupiter and deliver her to the altar so he can claim Earth through marriage. Caine develops feelings for the nubile, feisty earthling.

Jupiter Ascending is a lavish slice of sci-fi hokum, with occasional lines of loopy dialogue – “Bees are genetically disposed to recognise royalty” – and lukewarm romance.

The Wachowskis conceive one neat visual trick: Tatum’s rocket-powered boots.Oscar nominee Redmayne hissy-fits as the chief villain, and supporting cast pout and growl but are drowned out by the sound and fury of special-effects wizards. You get what you pay for and Jupiter Ascending is a dazzling, cacophonous yet almighty mess.