Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood – Film Review

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood tells the story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives — the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and through the eyes of a kid growing up in Houston, Texas who has intergalactic dreams of his own. Taking inspiration from Academy Award-nominated® filmmaker Richard Linklater‘s own life, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is a snapshot of American life in the 1960s that is part coming of age, part societal commentary, and part out-of-this-world adventure.

Few directors are doing it quite like Richard Linklater. If you go ahead and watch one of his films, you’ll immediately notice that all of his films have their own unique style and vision while also retaining that beloved Linklater flavor that millions of film fans adore.

It’s been three years since his last film and now, the filmmaker is back with Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, which is a sort of hyper-realistic animated coming-of-age science fiction film which certainly sounds ambitious, and trust me, it is. A large portion of the film follows the day-to-day life of our protagonist Stanley.

Stanley is an ordinary kid. He has some friends that he loves spending time with, he watches television and movies with his family after a nice big dinner, and loves to play sports outside in the hot summer weather. Although, there is one thing he loves that practically nobody else in his school does – space.

Throughout the entirety of Apollo 10 ½, we follow Stanley’s adventures but also, we see him learn more about NASA and space in general. But you don’t have to be a huge NASA super fan in order to get a lot of enjoyment out of this film. Linklater’s script is filled with tons of charm, wit, and energy for the whole family to enjoy.

The voice acting here is superb, with Jack Black as a grown-up Stanley being a huge standout. But Milo Coy – who voices young Stanley – definitely gets the most to do here and he does a fantastic job. He’s joined by the excellent talents of Glen Powell and Zachary Levi as well.

Every actor that worked on this project clearly had a ton of passion and you can practically hear it seeping through with every line of dialogue they speak. It’s also just a gorgeously animated film and extremely unique. To be fair, the animation style here can be a little bit uncanny at times to the point of creepiness, but that’s kind of what makes me love it so much.

The characters and environments here look outstandingly real but you also know that they’re not. It’s animation. That, in my opinion, makes it so special and memorable.

Apollo 10 ½ isn’t a total hit, though. The film is a little over ninety minutes long and yet, it feels like a two hour movie. That’s mainly because not a whole lot happens here in terms of story, which results in a slow-pace. Trust me, this entire movie is basically about Stanley’s life in the 1960s. Don’t go into this expecting some intergalactic space epic because it’s not that type of movie. Go into it with an open mind, and I’m sure you’ll find some nice things to enjoy.