I would rather shit in my hands and clap than watch this movie to the end. This was the first movie I have ever walked out of the cinema after 45 minutes.

Fans of Wes Anderson will certainly have a good time with "Asteroid City". Like most of the director's other projects, the film is funny, quirky, visually unique, and generally incredibly creative.On top of that, as usual, the cast is chock-full of well-known actors. Although several attempts have been made to imitate Anderson's style, no one has been successful thus far. Despite my praises, however, there are a few weak points. I don't think Anderson's new film will persuade his detractors. On the contrary, he drifts further away from attempting to tell a coherent story. It is quite noticeable that the framework of the story is hardly present in his more recent films. Individual scenes are still often fantastic, but when combined, they don't always make for a strong overall film. All in all, though, I continue to be satisfied. As I said, fans of Wes Anderson will definitely like "Asteroid City." And I count myself among that group for sure.

This is just a movie about a movie about a play about a play. And that's where the disappointment lies. There's no arch. No heroes or foes. No obstacles to overcome. Nothing gets solved, and there's no real payoff. It's just a story within a story within a story and you the audience is expected to marvel at how terribly clever it is. It's incredible clever. But it's not very watchable. Ultimately it's just a series of scenes, one after another, that you don't care about.

Scale it down, Wes. I’ve been a fan of everything he’s done since _Fantastic Mr. Fox_, and this is the first one in a long time that doesn’t sit well with me. It’s easily his loosest film since _The Darjeerling Limited_, and as a result he kinda lost sight of a coherent narrative here. It simply has too many characters, and while they’re all decently interesting, none of the arcs are developed to a point where I felt an emotional pay-off. The postmodern/meta stuff tanks the pacing and adds little to the overall narrative. There’s an attempt to use that layer to give the film a deeper meaning in the third act, but it feels like an anticlimax. The deeper meaning is that [spoiler] there is no deeper meaning, we’re just putting on a show [/spoiler]. Ok? Did Rian Johnson have input on this script? Is this Wes trolling the people who claim that he’s style over substance? Add to that that this is one of his films that relies the least on comedy, and I can only conclude that this might just be his weakest screenplay. The reason why I still like it, however, is mostly because of the technical aspects. The cinematography, set design, editing and music are all fantastic and I’m continuously amazed by how this man is able to build a complete, original world for every new film. There’s always enough quirk and detail in the frame to keep the movie alive. The acting’s also really solid, I don’t quite get the complaint from some people that it’s emotionless. While the delivery is as deadpan as ever, the actors add plenty of emotion though the tone and cadence of their voice. Overall, I think he really needs to stop worrying about topping the scale of his last film, because it’s making him lose focus as a director and writer. It’s enjoyable, but for me it’s his worst next to _The Life Aquatic_. 6/10

Wes Anderson is not for everyone.