In “Cloud Atlas,” the Wachowskis wildly overreached while tackling the notion of reincarnation via a daring, genre-spanning nonlinear narrative that challenged the very limits of conventional storytelling. Now, with “Jupiter Ascending,” the subject arises once again, albeit in the most banal, been-there-done-that way imaginable: as a garish, “Phantom Menace”-esque space opera in which a lowly Russian cleaning lady (Mila Kunis) is born with DNA identical to that of the most powerful woman in the universe. The movie refers to this statistical improbability as a “recurrence,” which could also describe the painfully familiar feeling we get from watching the Wachowskis fail once again, this time on an unrecoverable $175 million budget, despite whatever boost Imax 3D ticket sales can add.

It all comes down to a problem of world-building, a skill at which the Wachowskis excelled on “The Matrix.” But their weaknesses were revealed soon after in the “Matrix” sequels, where the sheer scale of the project overwhelmed their ability to focus in on the core narrative. Here, buried under decibels of deafening score (from J.J. Abrams’ favorite composer, Michael Giacchino, working without the solid underlying musical theme of his Pixar and “Star Trek” work), the movie zips from one dazzling setting to another, back and forth between Earth and Jupiter and who knows where else. No sooner have the Wachowskis built it than intergalactic rescue dog Caine comes crashing through walls to tear it all down. Hard to believe, but for all the Abrasax’s technological superiority, it takes just one small hole in the ceiling to bring an entire refinery city crumbling to the ground, and while it all looks quite stunning, the Wachowskis really should have spent that extra six months on development, focusing on the script rather than the visuals. After this debacle, it will be a long time before the kind of recurrence where anyone trusts the duo with a budget anywhere near this scale again.

There are, no doubt, people who sneer at the idea of a movie in which Mila Kunis plays a Russian cleaning lady whose DNA makes her fated to save the universe and Channing Tatum plays a flying man-dog. One can only pity them. As expected, the reviews for Andy and Lana Wachowski's "Jupiter Ascending" range between goggle-eyed and gobsmacked, with critics either charmed by its over-the-top antics or bemoaning its nonsensical gibberish — either of which, frankly, sounds pretty good in the doldrums of February, to which the movie was pushed after being originally scheduled to open in summer 2014. That's not usually a good sign, but where the Wachowskis are concerned, being considered too weird for blockbusters season can only be considered a compliment. (The only people unhappy with the movie might be Eddie Redmayne's team, who are busy swatting down the notion that his campy turn as "Jupiter's" villain might put a dent in his Oscar hopes for "The Theory of Everything.") The only truly worrying notices are those that accuse it of pulling its punches, of being not an "epic folly" but a rote sci-fi action movie with a few highly unusual touches. It's still hard to believe that a movie whose central character is named Jupiter Jones could be accused of being dull, but we'll know more once the second round of reviews breaks after tonight's screenings.