SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
From Adam McKay comes another satire with an impressive ensemble cast, this time in the veins of science fiction! Two astronomers try to warn the world about an impeding extinction level event - a comet plunging towards Earth! How politics, science, society, media, technology and entertainment impacts said endeavor forms the crux.
In the writer-director's classic signature style, he has delivered a rather strong statement utilizing contradiction all too well in a mockumentary fashion! The overall story is good and interesting from start to finish. Only in satires or parodies you could touch real life elements without it ever taking you out of any immersion due to the genre's ridiculous nature itself, and Adam McKay went for it! The public mocking of science, the spawn of conspiracy theories, the excessive highlight on celebrities' lives, the lunacy and dominance of social media, keyboard-warrioring, faction-esque political campaigns, memes and the circle-jerk a real story needs to do just to get any meaningful traction are examples. Here and there, it does get on-the-nose, but hey, what you gonna do?
By far the most gut-punching sequence in Don't Look Up would be the final 20 minutes prior to the space rock's arrival! The anticipation of it, the calmness before the catastrophe, the moment of impact and the complete obliteration of our planet instills nerve-shredding fear for all of us watching! Leonardo DiCaprio's film appearances are getting rarer by the day, but anytime he does show up, good Lord there's absolutely nothing to beat his performance and presence! He is downright hilarious as the middle-aged scientist Dr. Mindy! Every single time his blood pressure shoots up and he experiences one of those anxiety attacks, you would not be able to control your laughter! His character receives a small arc and his television breakout speech is simply a masterpiece!
Jonah Hill's return to his version of a douchey persona last seen in The Wolf of Wall Street is simply golden! Cate Blanchett's transformation into a commercial news anchor and Mark Rylance as the film's version of Elon Musk are unbelievable! Visual effects is spectacular, particularly for the Primo drone and the Bronteroc that kills the President as per prophecy!