Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

UK Release Date: 01 April 2022

Certification: 12
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Jack Black, Milo Coy, Lee Eddy, Natalie L'Amoreaux, Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, Josh Wiggins, Bill Wise

Rating: 49%

Review:

Richard Linklater garnered a reputation for crafting delightful coming of age films - Boyhood, Dazed and Confused and School of Rock - as well as completing one of the most acclaimed trilogies with 'The Before' trilogy. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood released on Netflix last year to diminishing buzz and to some became an underrated gem of the 2020s. 

For me that wasn't the case. I couldn't connect to the animation style for the life of me. It felt so off and unauthentic compared to the sincere story being told, not fitting the plot whatsoever. From a surface level the backgrounds shine with their unique level of intricacy and detail but the character design looks awful - rather artificial. And if an animated film fails to entice the viewer with delicate animation, the film suffers as a whole. Add to that dialogue that doesn't line up well with speech, delayed mouth movements, in the slightest. 

Jack Black's narration is stellar. I could listen to him deliver whatever exposition and drab he wanted to all day. His voice is immediately recognisable. Jack Black brings with him a certain instant charm that you don't get from many other actors. The voice cast all round do a good job in Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood. Lee Eddy's genuineness shines through Stan's mum - an outspoken sincerity comes with her lines that cemented her as a shining light. 

In fairness, Linklater set out to capture the experience of being a child in the late 60s/early 70s and he achieved that. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood perfectly captures the setting and era as it promised to. A world transfixed, engrossed even, with the excitement of the 'Space Race' forgetting any other problems and living a life of apparent bliss. Countless references to cinema - particularly sci-fi horror during the transition between noir and technicolour film. A shockwave of nostalgia influenced cultural significance. 

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood is pleasant viewing but nothing more than that. Maybe with a fitting animation style I would've gotten a lot more out of the film.