FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://insessionfilm.com/movie-review-asteroid-city/

"For fans of Wes Anderson, Asteroid City doesn’t disappoint, offering exactly what was expected from it. For viewers who don’t exactly appreciate the filmmaker’s style, I don’t think this film will convert you.

Personally, it’s nowhere near the level of The Grand Budapest Hotel, but it’s a considerable improvement over The French Dispatch."

Rating: B-

Writer-director Wes Anderson has lost his way, and this film proves it. I realize that the auteur’s signature style of filmmaking is an acquired taste, and, to his credit, he’s made some fine pictures over the years. But this one is not among them. In fact, contrary to many of the inexplicable claims that this is his finest release, I’d contend just the opposite. It’s arguably his worst, a meandering, cryptic, unfocused piece that’s so muddled you’ll need the assistance of a search party to find your way out of it (that is, if you even care by the time the end of this overlong mess rolls around... Lue kokonaan.

Even though the film has a fair share of chuckle worthy moments, Asteroid City shamelessly rolls around in its eccentricities and unapologetic blundering demeanor with no real depth or character development whatsoever. The gathering of extraordinary talent draws you in yet Asteroid City doesn’t deliver a story that’s fully worth telling.

Full review: https://boundingintocomics.com/2023/06/24/asteroid-city-review-wes-andersons-charmless-comedic-drama/

Well Wes Anderson has certainly assembled a formidable cast here, but I'm afraid I found the whole thing very much a case of style over substance. It all happens in an one-horse town in Nevada where a meteorite crashed aeons ago. Every year the town awards those youngsters who have achieved something especial in the field of science, so they - and their families - gather together for the awards ceremony presided over by "Gen. Gibson" (Jeffrey Wright). The "Steenbeck" family are prominent with father and acclaimed photographer "Augie" (Jason Schwartzman) and his geeky son "Woodrow" (Jake Ryan) s... Lue kokonaan.

Most critics have their personal favorite directors, and it’s sometimes a challenge to keep strict objectivity when reviewing one of their projects. That’s why it pains me to write about “Asteroid City,” the sluggish, smug, exasperating new film from co-writer and director Wes Anderson. In what is unquestionably his worst film by a mile, Anderson leans too heavily on his ordered, signature visual symmetry, saturated color palate, and A-list cast while completely forgetting how to make an entertaining movie.

The film takes place in a tiny desert town (famous for their giant crater) where the... Lue kokonaan.

Top tongue-in-cheek directors: Wes Anderson and Wen Jiang. Asteroid City isn't my favorite Wes film, but it's surely tongue-in-cheek and pretty damn funny.

This movie reminds me a little of Tennessee Williams, the all-time master of damaged and traumatized human psyches. I see this work as a treatise on human issues, especially the labels given to us by others and those we give ourselves, and how they affect one's life and relationships.

The partial view of the "Confessions of a Narcissist" marquis that showed up in the background of the tet-a-tet between Augie and his almost-onstage-wife... Lue kokonaan.

I didn't know what to expect from 'Asteroid City', yet I got exactly what I expected from this director... Wes Anderson, that!

As usual: love the aesthetic, the exquisite colour palette and the usual Wes vibes. Always fun seeing a bunch of known faces appear throughout. Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson are the standouts. A fair few others do well too, namely Bryan Cranston and Jeffrey Wright. Steve Carell is amusing in a small role, also.

I've enjoyed some of Anderson's other works much more ('Fant... Lue kokonaan.