The Big Picture

Space Cadet is a poorly executed, unrealistic story about a clueless 20-something who cons her way into NASA with no qualifications.
The film sacrifices realism and meaningful character development for half-hearted feminism and clichéd humor.
Despite its good intentions, Space Cadet fails to deliver a compelling message, leaving viewers with a forgettable and tiresome experience.

Space exploration has provided us with some of the most enduring, awe-inspiring cinematic classics of all time, boasting stunning visuals, powerful narratives, and thrilling action. Unfortunately, the space movie genre has now also provided us with Liz W. Garcia’s Space Cadet. If Apollo 13 and Legally Blonde had an insufferable love child lacking the respective thrill and charm of its prodigiously successful parents, it would be this pseudo-feminist NASA fan fiction. The film centers on a clueless twenty-something (played by an uninspired Emma Roberts) who cons her way into being an astronaut with no qualifications and, better yet, no consequences. Packed to the brim with bad jokes, one-note characters, and some bafflingly bizarre visual effects, Prime Video’s Space Cadet shoots for the moon but falls alarmingly short, probably rocking a glittery jean jacket and giggling incessantly all the way down.

What Is ‘Space Cadet’ About?
Image via Prime Video

Space Cadet begins with the introduction of Emma Roberts’ Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a bartender who moonlights as a creator of rudimentary inventions, including an unexplained manatee-admittance-gate in a river, and a tanning tray made of mirrors which, to her credit, does also have a cupholder. After a high school reunion makes Rex feel embarrassed by her career status, she decides that her childhood ambitions and passion for the moon mean that she is qualified to be an astronaut. When she’s surprised to learn that employment at NASA requires more than a high school diploma and a can-do attitude, she writes a letter detailing her passion for all things celestial and also marine life for some reason, expecting the federal government to fall for all her charm.

Her best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), unbeknownst to Rex, forges some credentials in her letter, which, coupled with the success of her manatee gate, gains Rex admission to NASA’s training program. This level of unbelievable stupidity pretty much sets the stage for the rest of the film, in which Rex uses her plucky demeanor and limited understanding of physics and simple machines to gain the respect of her peers and the heart of her mentor, Logan (Tom Hopper), who, to be fair, seems to be just as dumb as she is.

Emma Roberts Plays an Insufferable Protagonist in ‘Space Cadet’

Space Cadet’s lead protagonist is, to put it politely, a deluded and entitled young woman who I wouldn’t trust to drive me to the airport, let alone fly the damn plane. However, Rex is, at first, portrayed as an intelligent person. She was admitted to Georgia Tech (but didn’t go due to her late mother’s illness), and as a bartender, she memorizes numerous complex drink orders and crafts her own inventions in her downtime. She also helps out with the practical effects for her father’s (Sam Robards) ghost hunting-hoax business, which basically consists of her throwing tennis balls at windows, but still shows some level of ingenuity.

As Space Cadet goes on, Rex loses any semblance of a brain cell, rolling up to NASA in a bedazzled crop top and fuzzy platform sandals, and literally jumping into her superior’s arms to say hello. (You can be a free spirit and still rock some business casual attire and workplace decorum!) She struts around the institution laughing at inappropriate times and throwing up a peace sign at any sign of conflict, and somehow all but one of her classmates find this adorable rather than annoying. Rex manages to at least be cloyingly sincere until one particularly thoughtless stunt takes the character from irritating to downright irredeemable, and Emma Roberts’ one-note, perky performance is far from enough to make the character’s sins forgivable (at least to the audience).

‘Space Cadet’ Sacrifices Realism for Half-Hearted Feminism

Though obviously trying to emulate a Legally Blonde-esque underdog story, Space Cadet takes a completely unqualified lead character and shows how she’s pretty much not willing to put in any work to achieve her dream. Aside from one wholly uninspiring training montage in which Rex and her randomly nine-toed roommate, Violet (Kuhoo Verma), trade their knowledge of physics and jogging, Rex seems largely unwilling to actually earn her place in this prestigious profession. In this regard, Space Cadet sends a misleading message that you deserve something simply because you want it, and that you don’t have to work hard for things if you rig the system and then are subsequently adorable.

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The movie is even more disappointing in that, at the beginning of Space Cadet, Rex is seen as special because all the other women around her are blithering idiots. This is exemplified at her high school reunion, when the three old classmates she talks to are insensitive, one-dimensional party girls, who do little beyond squeal and giggle. (Bonus points to the one who thinks a full-ride scholarship means that the college gives you a free car!) Similarly, Rex’s best friend Nadine — who, to Poppy Liu’s credit, possesses the only chuckle-out-loud moments in the entire film — exists only as Rex’s dim-witted sidekick, looking at her “genius” bestie with vacant eyes and getting most of her screen time by masquerading as Rex’s various, made-up references.

When she gets to NASA, Rex’s fellow female astronauts are either similarly clueless or framed as humorless shrews. Even Gabrielle Union, who plays one of the leads of the space program, is unserious and underutilized. The movie also wastes the opportunity to craft a strong mentor-mentee relationship between Union and Roberts’ characters (something that Rex could benefit from). Space Cadet makes Rex remarkable at the expense of other women, and it defeats the “girl power” message that the movie was clearly aiming to achieve.

‘Space Cadet’s Inspiring Message Is Lost In, Well, Space
Image via Prime Video

At its core, Space Cadet has a good message about following your dreams and remaining true to yourself, even if that message is shrouded in layers of drivel and lame jokes. There is no right way to be a genius and no right way to be a woman in STEM; people have different skill sets and strengths, and Rex’s passion and inventiveness could surely be beneficial on some level. Likewise, the movie proves that bartending requires brains, social skills, and great attention to detail, so, if anything, Space Cadet is really a half-baked manifesto about underestimating the intelligence of service workers.

However, despite its best efforts, Space Cadet never reaches its potential as a comedy or an aspirational tale. Instead, the movie gets lost in the realm of forgettable, lukewarm rom-coms, having lofty aspirations but, unlike its lead character, remaining firmly on the ground.

REVIEW Space Cadet (2024) ‘Space Cadet’s unbearable protagonist and ridiculous plot prevent it from taking off.ProsPoppy Liu offers comedic relief with limited material.’Space Cadet’ encourages us to follow even our most seemingly unattainable dreams. ConsEmma Roberts’ Rex is an insufferable lead character.The NASA premise is too bizarre to be remotely believable.Gabrielle Union is wasted as Pam Proctor.Rex unironically saying “Keep tweeting at NASA to call me!”

Space Cadet is available to stream on Prime Video starting July 4 in the U.S.

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