UPDATED: Either I’m Wes Anderson’ed out or I was just too tired to watch his latest frenetic ADD-driven dollhouse statement. I’m thinking it’s the former. What I do know is that Wes Anderson will be Wes Anderson, even with a story as slim as this one. The issue I had with “Asteroid City” is that, despite the gorgeous detail-filled visuals, there really was no debt of feeling. It’s all artifice. In his best movies, you cared about the characters, their plights, where the story was going, but here you just don’t.
EARLIER: I just got out of “Asteroid City” and it’s certainly a Wes Anderson movie. I’ll share more thoughts soon. The reviews are DIVISIVE. It’s a love it or hate it kind of film.
Either you’re on-board Anderson’s usual stuffed-frame whimsy, and it’s amped up to 11 here, or you can’t fathom it anymore.
IndieWire gives it an A. Vulture calls it a masterpiece. The Guardian is positive. Screen thinks it’s good. The Playlist gives it a B. Variety thinks it’s bad. The Wrap didn’t like it. THR is very mixed.
The result is a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 78 on Metacritic. Expect it to go down as the theatrical release date approaches.
