Asteroid City review: Wes Anderson is evolving into a beautiful shell of himself

When Wes Anderson burst onto the scene with an independent film on a shoestring budget called Bottle Rocket, he followed it up with two masterpieces: Rushmore and my personal favorite Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums. These three films shared two common elements: distinct individual characters who were remarkably different from one another and villains who served as the heroes of the story. His latest endeavor, Asteroid City, is yet another attempt to triumph with style over substance, conquering the medium visually. However, like that gorgeous red velvet pancake I once had at a fancy Vegas buffet, the aesthetics merely serve as a façade for the underwhelming conclusion.

The story follows Augie Steenback (Jason Schwartzman), a conflict photographer in war-torn regions who recently lost his wife but hasn’t yet informed his four children. As a recent widower, he decides to embark on a Griswold-esque adventure, taking his family, known as The Steenback clan, across the desolate desert to visit his father-in-law, Stanley (Tom Hanks). However, their car breaks down in Asteroid City, a town renowned for a meteorite crater, and the local mechanic (Matt Dillon) cannot fix their vehicle. While exploring their surroundings, they discover that the town is filled with military officers and scientists (including familiar Anderson players Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, and Tony Revolori). A “junior” stargazing event occurs at the site, attracting visitors from all over the country.

Asteroid City director Wes Anderson is evolving into a beautiful shell of himself

The all-star cast includes Scarlett Johansson as Midge Campbell, a Hollywood starlet, and her brilliant scientist daughter, Dinah. Maya Hawke portrays June, a schoolteacher chaperoning her class on a trip to the area, where she encounters a charming cowboy named Montana, played by Rupert Friend from Homeland. Additionally, Steve Carell appears as Asteroid City’s president and motel owner, who sells plots of land through a vending machine.

Other notable names in the cast include Liev Schreiber as J.J. Kellogg, the father of a son who invented a laser gun and is a guest, as well as Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, and Margot Robbie, who all play characters involved in producing a play that connects to the overall story. (Which, you’ll know when you watch the film, has been an overused trope in movies the past few years).

I’ll rip the band-aid off: Wes Anderson continues to bring his oversaturated style, featuring characters that all sound like imitations of themselves. The movie is a wondrous visual feast, with striking art direction, sets, and distinct costume design that please the eyes and keep the viewer engaged. Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Robert Yeoman, who has worked on every Wes Anderson feature, fills the silver screen with contrasting color palettes and utilizes various film techniques to create distinct visuals. However, no amount of visual splendor can conceal the banal-filled dialogue of the script.

At some point in Anderson’s filmography, the focus shifted from character-driven stories to style-driven narratives. Anderson and Roman Coppola co-wrote the script, and many of the characters come across as carbon copies of each other in their dialogue and strangely limited emotional expression. In his signature style, especially in the latter half of his filmography, conversations between characters often mimic each other to the point where dialogue is repeated back and forth, making the characters feel ubiquitous. Unlike Gene Hackman’s Royal Tenenbaum and Bill Murray’s Herman Blume, Asteroid City lacks, for one, a villain, and two, any sign of three-dimensional characters.

Is Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City good?

Yes, Anderson’s films possess a symmetry that offers a unique experience not often found elsewhere. There will always be supporters of his tableau style. However, that specific composition feels like a distraction from the story’s inadequacies in what was described above, with the hope of a more rewarding payoff to the main plot.

The main story in Asteroid City is an abstract metaphor for the absurdity of American innovation, migration, and the trauma of losing one’s homeland, whose overall point and humor fall flat. Unfortunately, there is a lack of emotional payoff, leaving the viewer with a live-action diorama designed for the director’s enjoyment rather than the audience’s.

And a director who is a former beautiful shell of themselves.

The Verdict: Wes Anderson continues to bring his oversaturated style, with characters that all sound like imitations of themselves, in his new film, Asteroid City. 2 stars.

What did you think of Asteroid City? Is Wes Anderson’s newest film good or bad? Let us know in the comments below!