You have to be a hard-core Wes Anderson fan to enjoy “Asteroid City.”

I mean that as a friendly warning. Anderson’s latest doubles down on every single one of his stylistic quirks, not so much a movie as a meta-commentary on all the movies he’s done before. If you have a deep knowledge of the director’s previous works, you might find some meaningful insights into Anderson’s particular views on storytelling. If you’re a casual fan, or anything less than that, you’ll be confused and desperately bored.

The movie is technically about a group of people trapped in a small town after an alien visitation, but it’s also about the movie being made of this event sometime later. The cast is considerably larger than the usual Anderson movie, and everyone is playing both themselves and the actors playing themselves. The alien does make an appearance, but it’s a much smaller part of the story than various character monologues.

Of course, the sheer amount of talking in this movie won’t phase Anderson fans. His movies are always full of talking, but his best work also has an endearing quality to it. It helps the strange, lonely characters find connections with each other.

In “Asteroid City,” the characters’ dialogue feels more like an essay Anderson is writing. It’s a three-dimensional notepad in search of plot and characters, and its value depends entirely on how fascinated you are by Anderson’s thought processes. If you’ve ever wanted him to teach a movie class, this might be it.

If you’re looking to watch an actual movie, however, you might want to go somewhere else.

Grade: Two stars

Extraction 2 (Netflix)

If you’re an action fan, you have to see “Extraction 2.”

The movie contains one of the best, most exciting action sequences I’ve seen in a long time. It’s an escape sequence filmed in one 21-minute long continuous shot, and the lack of scene cuts means the audience never gets the chance to take a breath. The entire thing is so wonderfully tense and action-packed you’ll be gripping the edge of your seat, and the limited POV of the single camera heightens the sense of danger.

The rest of the movie is pretty entertaining, too. A sequel to the 2020 movie of the same name, “Extraction 2” is a bigger, bolder take on the concept with splashier, more visually satisfying action sequences. It also has the emotion that was the best part of the original, expanding it out to characters that have more long-term impact on each other.

If there’s one failing, it’s that you really should rewatch the first movie before sitting down to this one. The sequel starts immediately in the aftermath, and without a review you’ll scramble to figure out who everyone is and what’s going on. When the inevitable third movie comes out, I’ll no doubt need to rewatch both previous movies to get ready.

If they keep being this good, I’ll be happy to do it.

Grade: Three and a half stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Utah Film Critics Association. Find her on Twitter at @wardellwriter or drop her a line at [email protected].