Asteroid City (2023)
The Wes Anderson style is through the roof here. Needless to say every shot looks great. The whole 50s scifi cartoon vibe is done to perfection. It took me a while to tune into though. Especially the whole very meta-meta part, because it is clearly not just funny references but the main point of the movie. With the included clear nod to Mars Attacks this feels like Wes Andersons tribute to 50s pulp science fiction like it was for Tim Burton. Like in Mars Attacks the sheer starpower of the cast is a point in itself, showing to the viewer that the movie is self aware as being a fictional movie. Asteroid City takes it even further here by setting it in a framework of actors playing a play. The acting is also far from the naturalistic method acting we are used too, with everyone giving a very stiff recital of their lines, almost making it feel like a rehearsal. With plenty of dry humor to make it interesting.
I am sure Wes has an intent with all this and being a newbie to his film I am unable to analyze it and compare with the rest of his filmography, but what I got from this was that every scene worked well on its own - just not sure how to put it all together. The whole artificial world the very fictional plot takes place it, the movie seems to explore how we deal with stories and expectations for how events should unfold. Some of the characters even acknowledges the confusion in the end by outright saying they don’t understand what they are doing. All very meta and perhaps a tad pretentious, but still worth looking at and let the movie just flow without trying to think too much.
Rating: 4