REVIEW: Prime Video’s ‘Space Cadet’ Fails to Reach the Stars

In Prime Video’s Space Cadet, since she was a child, Tiffany “Rex” Simpson (Emma Roberts) has wanted to go to space. But after the death of her mother, instead of becoming an astronaut, Rex’s life takes in a different direction. Now a bartender in Florida, Rex has eye opening experience at her high school reunion that makes her question the choices she has made in her life. Deciding that she needs to make change, Rex decides she will do whatever it takes to go to space. On a whim, she applies to NASA in hopes they will find her one-of-a-kind letter intriguing enough to give her a chance at their astronaut training program. With a little unknown help from her best friend, Nadine (Poppy Liu), Rex lands a spot in the coveted training program. She now must use her quirky personality to convince NASA that she deserves to become an astronaut and earn a spot on their next trip to space.

This movie reminded me a lot of Legally Blonde. A young woman trying to convince a group of people that she deserves a seat at the table. Unlike Legally Blonde, this movie lacked the laughs and charm of Legally Blonde. Directed and written by Liz W. Garcia, the movie featured low budget CGI effects that took you out of a scene and lackluster secondary characters. What makes a comedy so good is its secondary characters are just as good as your leads. That’s not the case here. The secondary characters seemed too out there, and the acting was not great. I think if these characters had been developed a little bit more than it would have helped the overall story.

Roberts is fun as the out there Rex, but even some of her scenes seemed too out there. However, I did like how Garcia portrayed Rex. She wasn’t just some dumb, party girl from Florida, but instead she was a smart girl who lacked motivation. She always saw the Brightside of things, even when she was being “tormented” by some of the others in her training program. Gabrille Union plays NASA’s Director of Operations Dr. Pam Proctor. She plays an extremely minor character but makes a significant impact. Her performance is fun and is where most of the laughs can be found in the movie. Tom Hoppper plays Rex’s love interest and Proctor’s second-in-command /protégé at NASA, Deputy Director of Operations Logan O’Leary. Hopper is run as the nerdy second-in-command, yet he and Roberts couldn’t quite make me believe that their characters belonged together. A lot of that had to do with their relationship not being fully developed. It was written as if the audience should just assume the two will end up together rather than build the will, they won’t they chemistry needed to pull off a great romantic comedy.

Space Cadet is the type of movie you want to watch when you are looking for mindless entertainment. There is nothing great about it, but it does make you feel good when all is said and done. I recommend checking this out if you have nothing to do one random night or on the weekend. I don’t think it is something you need to watch immediately.

Grade: C