Who would’ve thought that the best source for action-adventure at the multiplexes in the early stages of summer would come from Wes Anderson and not the new Mission: Impossible movie that it’s competing against? Okay, that claim is highly subjective and dubious, but the point stands. Everyone thinks they have Anderson figured out–now 12 feature films deep into his career. His sensibilities are quirky, he likes symmetrical dollhouses, and his actors have wry line deliveries. He’s become a love-him-or-hate-him kind of filmmaker, and the naysayers were ready to dismiss The Phoenician Scheme as just another Wes Anderson dramedy.
To everyone’s surprise, the film, along with being delightfully charming and a respite from his recent somber meditations in The French Dispatch and Asteroid City, offers the exciting thrills of an action movie. As crazy as it sounds, Anderson, who infused combat and espionage setpieces into his new film, ought to direct more action.
Wes Anderson Broadens His Style Into the Action and Spy Genre in ‘The Phoenician Scheme’
Wes Anderson has reached the point in his career where he is consistently taken for granted. With his days of Oscar consideration seemingly past, and the marginal financial success of his work at the box office, he is comfortable operating in his own lane. As long as he has the production company, Indian Paintbrush, to keep funding his lavish work and retain his ability to attract big stars, Anderson shows no signs of slowing down, even if mainstream audiences are growing weary of his aesthetic.
The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in his long-awaited debut in an Anderson film, shows the director evolving in style and tone in unforeseeable ways. As indicated by the title, the film centers around an elaborate plan orchestrated by notorious business tycoon Zsa Zsa Korda (del Toro) to swindle other tycoons to help finance the overhauling of the infrastructure of Phoenicia across Europe. Along the way, he rekindles his relationship with his only daughter, Sister Liesel (Threapleton), a nun whose mother was killed by an unknown person.
Anderson is no stranger to kinetic set pieces, and oftentimes, the most memorable moments in his films center around comedic chases or physical encounters, as seen in Rushmore and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The Phoenician Scheme evokes his directorial debut, Bottle Rocket, a low-budget heist movie with frivolous stakes. His recent creation, however, is a globetrotting adventure with a varied array of characters and twists. Because the plot is primarily a MacGuffin to focus on the turbulent relationship between an estranged father and daughter, the film never loses its Andersonian charm and intimacy.
Wes Anderson Proved His Chops as an Action Filmmaker
Having said that, the film equally excels when operating as a spy caper. The film opens with a loud, abrupt explosion that tears a plane passenger in half. Korda takes part in two separate fight sequences, one between his hired secretary, revealed to be a double agent, Bjørn (Cera), and another with his half-brother, Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch), who turns out to be the one trying to kill him all along. Still, the most unexpected setpiece comes not in a plane crash or an attempted assassination, but rather, an intense game of H.O.R.S.E between Korda and prickly investors Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston).
Despite not being his forte, Anderson seamlessly executes these sequences without compromising his familiar blocking. Each explosion and sucker punch rocks you in your seat, so much that Focus Features must regret not screening the film in Premium Large Format. Capturing action sequences in Anderson’s typical 4:3 aspect ratio feels like it’s breaking the form. Action blockbusters with nearly 10 times the budget don’t have the fluidity and energy of the genuinely brutal duel between Korda and Nubar, and they certainly lack the inventive wit of the basketball sequence. Just like in the physical gags in Grand Budapest, these setpieces humorously appeal to the makeup of the characters. Anderson deploys action as a comedy of manners, showing these stately, influential figures settling disputes by playing pickup basketball.
The Phoenician Scheme, while it may seem like a retread from afar, represents a major step up for Wes Anderson as an ingenious formalist filmmaker. Even removed from the associative baggage of the director’s oeuvre, the film succeeds as something broader than just a typical Wes Anderson picture, but rather, a fully realized and expertly crafted spy thriller.
These sequences should not remain an aberration in his filmography, as his chops as an action filmmaker could help revive the freewheeling and irreverent energy behind his most beloved films, notably Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, and reject the notion that he’s become emotionally distant in recent years. There are so many staid action movies out there that beg for lively filmmaking. If he weren’t such a personal visionary, Anderson could do a lot worse than being a stellar journeyman action filmmaker.
The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters.
