REVIEW: ‘Asteroid City” is a Chaotic Mess
Wes Anderson is back with his newest creation, Asteroid City. Featuring a star-studded cast, including Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carell, Edward Norton, and Adrien Brody, the film takes place at a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in the desolate desert town of Asteroid City. It is here where the convention is disrupted when a visit from an alien thrust all attendees into a forced lockdown. However, all is not as it seems as the audience is led on a chaotic journey as the film attempts to navigate the real story. For the film is not just a film, but a play within a film that makes no real sense.
Fans of Anderson’s work will not be disappointed with Asteroid City. All the things they love about his films, big ensembles, creative shots, and unique directorial choices, are featured throughout this film. His use of cinematic filters helps differentiate between the “play” and the “film” while also creating two different tones. A darker, more intense tone for the play and a lighter, crazier tone for the film.
If you are not a fan of his work, or have never seen a Wes Anderson film, you are going to leave the theater having no idea what you just watched. The story makes no sense. The main focus of the film is on two characters, the monotonic Augie (Schwartzman) and lifeless Midge (Johansson). Both extremely perplexing characters who are battling with different things including grief, love, and their relationship with their families. Anderson attempts to entwine the slew of other characters with the overall story taking place between these two characters, but never solidifies it. You are left wondering why all of these characters were included besides the fact he wanted a film made up of A-list stars.
Because of the dysfunctional story, you can’t make an accurate decision on the acting. Each actor featured throughout this story is great in their own right, but their characters are not. It’s almost as if there were too many characters in the story. None of the characters were developed enough to provide us with the performances we are used to seeing from this cast, which is a shame because Anderson could have made something beautiful. The only actor I could make a true judgment call on was Bryan Cranston. As the narrator of the story, he does a great job portraying a narrator right out of the 1950s. His performance is very reminiscent of Rod Serling in the 1950/1960s series, The Twilight Zone.
Asteroid City may have a great cast, but it is a lackluster film. If you’re a fan of his work, I suggest checking it out. If you’re not, I would stay far away from this film.
Grade: D