Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’ Coming Back Down to Earth

As I mentioned a few days ago, after a much-buzzed Cannes premiere, the reviews for Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” wouls likely even-out to what will be a mixed response.

You’ll have his apologists, flat-out raves from David Ehrlich and Bilge Ebiri, mostly, but the reception is fairly muted. It now has a 72 on Metacritic, down from the 80s.

I’m not saying it’s a bad film. Non, Au contraire. I’ve given every Anderson that’s been released a second shot, sometimes a revelation occurs, other times, such as with “The French Dispatch,” my initial mixed response remains.

I don’t like the complaints that he’s just repeating his usual style, would you tell John Ford to stop making Westerns? Kaurismaki to abstain from his dryly deadpan stylings? Of course not.

Anderson’s “Asteroid City” looks beautiful, maybe his most fully realized visual feast, but there’s just not much engagement with its thin story. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure what the thick of the plot is. It’s just a series of scenes that don’t amount to much.

As far as I’m concerned it’s the worst film he’s released since his 1996 debut, “Bottle Rocket.” A total and utter fetishizing of his style over any sort of substance. The cast is largely populated by big named actors, many of which appear briefly just for a few minutes.

I’ll catch it again at a press screening on June 6th. The film is being released in theaters on June 16th.