TL;DR
Wes Anderson's Asteroid City offers a visually striking, quirky experience with strong performances, but its narrative struggles. The film explores the creation of a play within its own story, but the reviewer found the framing device ultimately weakened the emotional impact and overall cohesion, feeling superfluous. While the vibrant scenes in Asteroid City shine, the movie falls short of Anderson's best. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good, but a lack of bonus features is a major disappointment. Dive in to see if this unique film clicks for you!
Asteroid City presents a layered narrative, exploring both the creation and filmed representation of a play. The story centers on an astronomy convention held in Asteroid City, where Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) arrives with his son. Unexpected events unfold, prompting the characters to question the nature of their reality.
Wes Anderson remains a distinctive and compelling director. While even his less successful films often possess commendable qualities, Asteroid City, in this reviewer’s estimation, falls short of his best work. Unlike The Grand Budapest Hotel, which I consider a near-perfect film, the script in Asteroid City lacks complete cohesion.
The black-and-white framing device detracts from the overall impact, feeling somewhat superfluous, as if added to extend the film’s runtime. The vibrant town of Asteroid City, however, showcases Anderson’s talent for crafting quirky dialogue and populating the screen with a succession of absurdist scenes. The performances are uniformly strong, led by Wes Anderson regular Jason Schwartzman. Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson deliver excellent portrayals in their respective roles.
While the framing story contains some worthwhile moments, it ultimately undermines the film’s emotional resonance. The constructed nature of the narrative diminishes any sense of tension or consequence.
The Blu-ray edition demonstrates the format’s capabilities. The black-and-white sequences exhibit deep blacks and commendable sharpness, revealing fine details. The scenes in Asteroid City feature a distinctly warm color palette, which, impressively, avoids any color bleeding. The audio, presented in DTS Master HD 7.1, proves adequate, albeit primarily front-focused due to the dialogue-driven nature of the film. Certain sequences offer a more dynamic soundstage, the specifics of which will remain undisclosed to avoid spoilers. Disappointingly, the disc lacks supplementary material, a significant omission given the film’s intricate production design and the potential interest in behind-the-scenes insights, particularly regarding the practical effects.
In conclusion, Asteroid City excels when focused on the eponymous town. However, the inclusion of an unnecessary framing story weakens the overall narrative. The absence of extra features further detracts from the release.
SF Studios provided the review copy for this assessment. Please note that providers of review materials do not exert editorial influence. Our reviews are conducted independently, prioritizing the interests of our readers and consumers.
