You always know when you look at a Wes Anderson picture. Even if you don’t know what film you’re watching, watch a Wes Anderson film if it has symmetrical composition, a saturated color palette, and smooth camera movement. asteroid city is he doing his thing? A sci-fi romantic dramedy about a junior stargazer convention in an American desert town isn’t the compelling premise you’d go to the theater for, but once you’ve made a name for yourself as a distinctive author over the last few decades, you’ll folks have that show up for you.
You always know when you look at a Wes Anderson picture. Even if you don’t know what film you’re watching, watch a Wes Anderson film if it has symmetrical composition, a saturated color palette, and smooth camera movement. asteroid city is he doing his thing? A sci-fi romantic dramedy about a junior stargazer convention in an American desert town isn’t the compelling premise you’d go to the theater for, but once you’ve made a name for yourself as a distinctive author over the last few decades, you’ll folks have that show up for you.
Unfortunately, his style doesn’t work for everyone, and certainly not for me. Asteroid City is a bizarre unwatchable alien film that alienates everyone who experiences it. It has everything you would expect from one of his films. There are quick, subtle visual jokes and some funny moments of offbeat lyrics. However, this is the kind of film that only an established director like Anderson could sell. This is a film with a vague mix of genres, a vague premise and not many events happening in the film apart from people’s eccentric conversations.
The script covers all the topics you would expect. It’s about relationships and growth, and it’s all told in a cosmic way. Nonetheless, everything Anderson strives for leads to an empty viewing experience. Asteroid City is emotionless and feels like a long series of scenes in which events occur that you don’t care about. The red thread that runs through these scenes is so unbearably thin. While occasionally funny and whimsical, it offers very little entertainment value. In this film there is no urgency, no purpose, and nothing to worry about.
Anderson has chosen a star cast that any aspiring filmmaker would dream of and adapted to his signature style. While most movies only feature one or two big names in their trailers, this movie had a scrolling list because it couldn’t fit everyone. Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Steve Carell and Hong Chau barely scratch the surface. Heck, Margot Robbie even shows up for a scene. However, when Anderson hires all of these actors, he guides them all in the same way. Every character in this film has the exact same cadence and emotional depth.
Of course, Asteroid City has a revolving door full of Wes Anderson regulars, including Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, and Jeff Goldblum. We even see a few faces from The French Dispatch in this film. It’s a shame he has all these cast members and yet none of them feel like they’re putting on a particularly challenging performance. They all sound like they’re reading cue cards. And when you have so many characters and you don’t care about any of them, the film doesn’t leave any emotional impact.
Anderson’s films exist in an elevated reality where no one speaks or acts as they do in the real world. However, Asteroid City goes one step further and states that nobody reacts rationally to events. There’s a scene where Augie (Jason Schwartzman) burns his hand on a griddle, barely reacting, and then shows Midge (Johansson) his brand. She says, “Well, that actually happened,” and we move on to the next scene. Maybe some viewers will like that. I don’t understand what the hell that was supposed to be. The whole movie unfolds like a long line of nonsense. Anderson’s approach to style over substance is ineffective in this film. While the film features a unique atmosphere and the enchanting score of Alexandre Desplat, Asteroid City does remarkably little.
SCORE: 2/10
As explained in ComingSoon’s rating guidelines, a rating of 2 equals “awful”. The film is almost irretrievable and probably a waste of time for almost everyone involved.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press preview for us asteroid city Review.