Review 688: Asteroid City

  

Set in 1955 Arizona; The itinerary of a junior Stargazer/Space Cadet covention (organised to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholary competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.

Opening with black and white 4x3 prologue in the form of a Twilight Zone esque documentry hosted by Bryan Cranston,

There's a wonderfully old fashioned Hollywood feel to the proceedings. The film plays out very much like a filmed three act play. This is exemplified by huge cue cards appearing on the screen announcing Act I, Scene III.

No one lights up the screen with as much quirky, colourful and imaginative imagery or handles ensambles casts quite like Wes Anderson does.

the score by Alexandre Desplat is lovely, the production design is all marvelous; the titular city is a beautiful array of model trains, cars, little houses and research facilities. The use of matte patintings gave the film a wonderfully Classic Hollywood vibe and helped to enhance the artificial look of the titular city. The costumes are colourful

Asteroid City features a simply stacked cast, lets just cite a list of those: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlet Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrian Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Sophie Lillis and Jeff Goldblum. Rather awesome.