Wes Anderson is so meticulous in everything he does with his movies that it's unlikely he would ever really lose control over his vision. But that doesn't mean he can't take it too far to the potential detriment of an audience's ability to enjoy it as much as he does. This appears to be the case with Asteroid City.
The latest movie from Anderson follows a group of people who arrive in the small desert town of Asteroid City for a Junior Stargazer convention that becomes disrupted by the arrival of an extraterrestrial being. It should be no surprise that the people of Asteroid City are a bunch of big names, including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Steve Carrell, Liev Schreiber, Maya Hawke, Matt Dillon and Rupert Friend.
However, that is only part of Anderson's story, as it is revealed in the opening moments of the movie that we’re watching a '50s-style TV broadcast about the making of Asteroid City, a play from a famous writer (played by Edward Norton; Bryan Cranston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Hong Chau and Margot Robbie also appear in these scenes).
Anderson has been playing around with framing devices in his last few movies. In The Grand Budapest Hotel he frames the story as a little girl reading a book about the events of the movie, which even includes the author recounting how he was told the story. The French Dispatch is a series of vignettes depicting stories written for the titular newspaper. However, both of those creative choices were blended more seamlessly into the story. In Asteroid City, the frequent back and forth between the two settings kills the momentum of everything taking place in Asteroid City, which is far more engaging.
That being said, there isn't a whole lot of story going on here. Because of the framing device and the large ensemble, the movie doesn't give us much in terms of a central plot or conflict. As far as we can tell, Anderson seems to be ruminating on human connection and perhaps even a bigger idea of finding meaning in the world. The central storyline involving Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks is the closest we get to a throughline, but the way Anderson tells the story doesn't allow us to really connect with these characters and what they're dealing with.
It's a similar situation with the entire cast, actually. While they all may get a moment to shine with a bit of fun Anderson dialogue or clever sight gag, none leave a lasting impression.
The closest may be the quintet of young actors playing the Junior Stargazers — Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Josh Lee and Aristou Meehan — but again, we never spend enough time with them.
The sandbox that Anderson has been granted because of the success in his career has only grown, and rightfully so, but Asteroid City feels too sprawling to be considered among the director's better movies.
With that said, admiration has to be given to Anderson for attempting to push the boundaries of his storytelling. We will not fault Asteroid City on is the craftsmanship of Anderson and his creatives to portray another wholly original place and feeling; to see the growth and mastery from Bottle Rocket to Asteroid City is amazing. Anderson should continue to experiment with his form and the kinds of stories that he wants to tell. It's just in this instance, we think the result fails to live up to his past work.
Asteroid City releases in select US cities on June 16 before releasing in the rest of the US and in the UK on June 23.
