Wes Anderson’s latest film “The Phoenician Scheme” has everything you can expect from his film. While it has a heap of notable performers who will function as variously colorful dolls to be utilized by Anderson, the movie is certainly full of his own distinctive style and touches to notice, and you may enjoy it even though Anderson seems to be autopilot mode at times.

Benecio Del Toro, who previously appeared in “The French Dispatch” (2021), plays Zsa-zsa Korda, a rich businessman who has been rather notorious for his wealth as well as his shady business tactics. Not so surprisingly, Korda has a lot of enemies eager to destroy him, and the opening scene shows how he survives another disastrous airplane crash.

Anyway, after this incident, Korda becomes more serious about who will inherit his fortune and business. Although he already adopted no less than nine boys, none of the boys has impressed him much on the whole, and he comes to pay attention to his only daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who has been in a Catholic convent as preparing for becoming a nun. Although she is not so much interested in getting to know her father and business, Liesl comes to make a deal with his father, and they are accompanied by Bjørn Lund (Michael Cera), who is recently hired by Korda as a tutor but then becomes an “administrative secretary”.

These three characters go to some foreign country for taking care of Korda’s latest business problem, which is incidentally caused by another plot against him. He has financed an ambitious infrastructure project all over that country, but a certain global organization deliberately sabotages his ongoing project via a rather absurd tactic, and now he must convince his several partners to stick together along with him to the end.

As bouncing from one narrative point to another along with its three main characters, the movie provides a series of idiosyncratically humorous moments filled with Anderson’s own style and details. At one point, we have a silly but amusing scene involved with a little basketball match between Korda and his two American business partners, and you may get amused a bit by the sheer incompetence of Korda’s fellow team player. As he continues his business trip all over that foreign country, Korda keeps getting threatened by one assassination attempt after another, and we are not so surprised to learn later that there is even a secret agent reporting on Korda’s ongoing business trip to a bunch of figures in the organization.

Anderson and his crew members surely have some fun with decorating his film here and there. While cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel faithfully sticks to the visual approach established by Anderson and his usual cinematographer Robert Yeoman, the production designer by Adam Stockhausen and the costume design by Milena Canonero are constantly delightful to watch, and the score by Alexandre Desplat is utilized well along with the several classic pieces of Igor Stravinsky on the soundtrack.

However, the screenplay by Anderson and his co-writer Roman Coppola feels rather thin and superficial in terms of story and characters. Yes, many of the characters in Anderson’s films are more or less than broad caricatures, but they sometimes reveal surprising emotional depth even while maintaining their usual deadpan attitude. In case of “The Phoenician Scheme”, Anderson seems to be simply content with merely doing his usual dollhouse playing here without bringing anything particularly new or different to his artistic territory, and that is a bit disappointing compared to his previous film “Asteroid City” (2023). Although I was a little less enthusiastic about the film compared to many other reviewers, I admired how he tried something a little different, and I may revisit it someday just for appreciating it more.

Anyway, the movie is anchored well by the good comic performance by del Toro, who demonstrates more of his comic talent as he did in “The French Dispatch”. While mostly looking quite detached and phlegmatic throughout the film, del Toro effortlessly balances his character between humor and melancholy, and Korda somehow becomes endearing to us than expected despite his many flaws.

Around del Toro, many different performers come and then go as bringing extra amusement to the film, though it is a shame that the movie does not allow enough space for them to shine more. While Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch are Korda’s several business partners, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Bill Murray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, and Murray Abraham willingly play the minor supporting characters in the film during their respective brief appearances, Michael Cera and Mia Threapleton are solid as holding each own place well around del Toro.

In conclusion, “The Phoenician Scheme” is fairly enjoyable, but Anderson seems more repetitive than before. He has steadily honed his own style during last three decades, but it looks like there is not much to be honed or refined for him now, and I can only hope that this will be a brief respite before he reaches for something fresh later.