Acclaimed director, Adam McKay’s satire Don’t Look Up follows two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence), who discover a planet-killing comet heading straight toward Earth. Determined to warn humanity, they embark on a whirlwind media tour.
Don’t Look Up has one of the most impressive ensembles of the year — from Leonardo DiCaprio to Meryl Streep to Cate Blanchett to Timotheé Chalamet to Mark Rylance to even, Kid Cudi.
Everyone does a fantastic job with what they’re given. Meryl packs on the camp. Leonardo is anxiety embodied. I even have to hand it to Ariana Grande, whose musical performance, “Just Look Up”, is the highlight of the film for me.
Unfortunately, if one thing is certain, amazing casts cannot fix flawed stories.
McKay’s rapid fire editing, excessive joking, and tone-deaf storytelling makes the whole “sky is falling” story leave a stale taste in my mouth.
It is very clear that McKay has no hope for humanity or our willingness to come together in our time of need (which feels a little too relatable given the fact that we are in the midsts of a pandemic).
However, instead of this being a “wake up call” for us, the film lacks intelligence and tries too hard to be funny about something that isn’t funny at all. It’s a missed opportunity.
Overall this basically feels like “yassification” of Armageddon and — in my case — a bummer of a Christmas Eve watch.
Final Thoughts: Despite featuring some of the most incredible actors of our time, Don’t Look Up is overrated. I’d pass.
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