The Simpsons episode ‘Deep Space Homer’ that aired back on 1994 shows NASA recruit astronauts differently by using a different strategy. “We require a new way to grab the publics interest!” says one NASA official in the episode, “The public sees our astronauts as straight, sporty, and overly ambitious. They dislike such people.” NASA finally makes the decision to enlist “blue-collar slobs” preferably Homer Simpson to send off to space. Another official chimes in, “I propose that we look for them in a inefficient way by spending the taxpayers money on it”.
The plot where they enlist a blue-collar slob is that they teach in space cadet, this is another case to support the ‘The Simpsons have already done it’ hypothesis. Emma Roberts, the actress, plays Rex Simpson, would be memorably called Rex Simpson. Speaking of the universe and the comic’s connections, she is a Florida-turned cocktail nuisance, a college drop girl who wanted to be an alligator wrestler but instead grew up accompanied with dirt and Rover. However, things didn’t work out well in her parent’s guidance which was inappropriate given the context. But despite the circumstances she faced, she certainly pursued her ambition.
During a school reunion while Xing meets an old classmate, turned into an Elon Musk type called ‘Toddrick’ as expected from Florida, this see her astral ambitions rekindled. What she doesn’t know is that her ride or die Nadine (Poppy Liu) soon submits a highly exaggerated lie for an application to NASA. So guess what? Rex gets to be a part of nasa astronaut program. The sequel will naturally begin with montages of them training along with other funny characters that include a shaky fanfiction creator (Violet Marie Vislawski), the final girl black cartoonish villain (Desi Lydic from Daily Show), and a sexy British crook (Tom Hopper aka Dickon Tarly).
This is the type of movie that uses nerds in exactly the same way as The Big Bang Theory, where it all appears to be a crude definition of nerds (They’re bespectacled! Probably enjoy literature!) instead of a look at who they are, which is inaccurate. In reality, the entirety of the movie and I want to reiterate that it is supposed to be a tribute to science is rather anti-intellectual if that is ever a thing such as this being anti-intellectual. Seems to insinuate that one can traverse beyond the stars solely with confidence. What little science is present in the writer-director’s script, Liz W. Garcia, can only be deemed as comical in nature because of how rudimentary it is: “You know Newton’s third law, that of motion, which states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and wow does Rex get a lot of credit and received some ‘Wow’ smiles for knowing such a low and scrambled concept.
All in all, your credulity will be as suspended as the bending of spacetime around a black hole, and in fact, let me say that. Surely, if someone claims to have won a Pulitzer Prize (which is an award for journalism, by the way), as it is in Rex’s application, this could easily be checked out? Did not even the geniuses of NASA think to do a quick google? And really, after less than a year’s training, are you able to make it to space? It comes across as the kind of excuse that would make Hollywood feel good reason as to why the dog ate the physics homework that will eventually serve as the basis for one of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s extended rebuttals.
Let them, because none of this would be of too much concern even if the film was at least faintly funny or entertaining. It is neither of these things. Emma Roberts, at least is very endearing and unfiltered, bringing everything to the girl-next-door character, but the conversations she and her companions are saddled with are just cringeworthy to say the least. Rex at one point states, “All I have to do is be myself, Literally hold still and let me get a colonoscopy!” Mo disregards boundaries, it seems. There are some professional comedians in the circle, for example, Lydic and Dave Foley, but most of these actors are simply poor at doing the comedy timing, or beefing up bad material.
Combine all this with firmly a made-for-streaming look and some slightly eerie special effects, and it seems to be just another badly executed low budget digital film. As a character in ‘Deep Space Homer’ comments: “Don’t you think there’s an inherent risk in sending unqualified, under-trained civilians into space?” Only to be matched by Homer Simpson’s sharp remark: “The only hazard is to get sent to that dreadful Planet of the Apes. Hold it Statue of Liberty? It was our Earth! You animals, you wiped it out! Hell! Hell for you all!”
For more movies like Space Cadet (2024) visit Solarmovie.
