It’s easy to look at Asteroid City as just “another” film from writer/director Wes Anderson because, well, it basically looks and feels like Anderson’s other movies at first glance. It has that incredibly symmetrical style and strange visual design that Anderson has perfected with time. It’s another film of his that features an ensemble cast performing his distinctive comedic vision for line-delivering and antics. Even when the trailer first dropped, Asteroid City just felt like a typical showing for Anderson at this point.

However, there are things about Asteroid City that make it stand apart from Anderson’s past works – sadly though, not all of them are good. Asteroid City sort of embodies the mentality of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” with how Anderson’s trademark visual and comedic style still works even if it is incredibly familiar. With the film being set in the titular desert town during the 1950s, there are a lot of strong technical elements that give the setting and characters some immense charm. The music, color palette, and small-town vibes instantly make viewers feel immersed in Asteroid City and the sci-fi twists within the story make it a fun homage to 50s sci-fi. The characters themselves talk with a speed and style that’s so fitting for its setting and era, and the costume and set design just scream 50s western aesthetic.

Asteroid City is a grand visual time capsule of a Roswell-inspired setting and Anderson’s unique vision elevates this experience by assembling a very accomplished bunch. Anderson has pulled together quite a talented cast for Asteroid City – all of whom mesh with his comedic style perfectly and help make these characters a lot of fun. It’s great to see Jason Schwartzman in more of a leading role in one of Anderson’s stories again and the chemistry and story moments between him and Scarlett Johansson’s character are amazing. Truthfully, the whole cast is stellar and Liev Schreiber, Steve Carell, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Grace Edwards, and Jake Ryan deliver some standout performances.  

The quirks of all the characters lead to some hilarious interactions and fun conflicts that are made better by Anderson and frequent co-writer Roman Coppola’s strong comedic script – and of course, Anderson’s direction. There are some fantastic running gags throughout that will easily deliver laughs – especially an oddly consistent police chase – and some banter that’s both funny and engaging.

Honestly, as the situation in Asteroid City becomes more chaotic with the arrival of a strange alien turning a seemingly normal science convention into a messy government operation, the film’s humor builds excellently. It perfectly leans into the slow-building chaos of the events that are occurring and utilizes small moments with characters to really emphasize how hilariously bizarre things are getting. The scenes of June (Hawke) trying to teach her class and the young science prodigies all chatting easily make for some of the best and funniest scenes of the film. Plus, the alien character is just so visually remarkable and hilariously odd – it’s one of the best conceptions from Anderson lately honestly.

Amongst the strong comedy and technical vision from Anderson is also a strong storyline surrounding the film’s central character Augie (Schwartzman). Augie arrives in Asteroid City to support his “brainiac” son Woodrow (Ryan), but he’s also dealing with some personal issues tied to his wife’s passing that are interesting to see play out. The conversations he has with his kids and father-in-law (Tom Hanks) have subtle bits of heart to them that make for a surprisingly emotional arc for Augie. The scenes between Augie and Mitch (Johanssen) are fantastic and there’s something really special about seeing their connection grow throughout the film and blossom into something more romantic. It’s another strong showing of Anderson and Coppola’s character writing. Even while most of the characters are much thinner and solely there to deliver comedic lines and cutaways, Augie’s central arc gives Asteroid City a memorable and engaging throughline.

Unfortunately, this great storyline and the comedic strengths are often marred by not only the vast number of thin characters and storylines in Asteroid City, but also the bizarre storytelling. Rather than the film being solely focused on Asteroid City and its current residents and chaos, there’s also additional framework built around it since the events of Asteroid City are a part of a fictional play. Thus, viewers are shown scenes of the production being made from time to time, and there are some slates slapped in that denote when acts and scenes change. While stylistically it all fits the 50s aesthetic and homage, this added element to the storytelling only ends up constantly getting in the way.

The momentum of emotions, the story, and even character interactions are constantly broken by the slates popping up and it makes the pacing of the film totally drag. The idea of being pulled out of Asteroid City often ruins the progression of the story and characters, and it never feels like it adds much to what’s happening in Asteroid City. It’s never as interesting to see how things came together and is more of a distraction than anything. Also, the idea of knowing that everything happening with Augie and the other characters being fake makes it hard to be as invested in what’s happening and realistically, Asteroid City could exist just fine without the “behind the scenes” glimpses.

Asteroid City isn’t one of Anderson’s strongest films since it’s full of undercooked characters and ideas and features a decision to create this outer framework that does nothing but tarnish the likeable sci-fi/western story that’s presented. Yet, Asteroid City still manages to show how charming and delightful Anderson vision for visuals and characters can be and will undoubtedly delivers enough laughs and loveable moments that’ll make it a very solid watch.

Watch the Trailer Here: