Mark Reviews Movies: THE WONDERFUL: STORIES FROM THE SPACE STATION

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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 16, 2021

A collection of astronauts from the United States, Europe, Russia, and Japan tell stories of deciding to follow this career path and their time aboard the International Space Station (ISS). That's the pattern and extent of The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station, which feels more like a recruitment exercise than anything else. It's recruiting for a mission that's vital to the furthering of human exploration and knowledge, at least.

Director Clare Lewins provides a brief history of the ISS, from the kernel of an idea for a joint venture between the United States and the then Soviet Union, through its construction and the ongoing experiments occurring in Earth's orbit. There's little about the actual logistics of the station's building (beyond the repeated trivia that pieces of it were built around the world and almost miraculously fit together without trouble) or the work being done on the ISS. Lewins is more concerned with the ideas and ideals that the station represents.

One of those is the general pursuit of science and exploration, and another is that anyone who dares to dream of becoming an astronaut could, in theory, do so. Every current and former astronaut interviewed here gives a brief history of their childhood and career.

There are distinct differences: Scott Kelly, who spent a year aboard the ISS, was bored and distracted in school, for example, while other interview subjects exceled. There's something undeniably romantic about the one pattern that does emerge: Each interviewee can remember looking up at and dreaming about the stars as a kid.

There is some stunning footage from the ISS, observing the routines of astronauts, the sun hitting solar arrays so they look engulfed in flame, and looking down on Earth. The perspective, as well as the international spirit of the station itself, has changed the thinking of many of these men and women, especially when it comes our shared humanity and the need to embrace that in order to find solutions to the planet's problems together.

It's the finest and most admirable of sentiments in a documentary that's mostly filled with fine and admirable sentiments. The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station quickly starts to feel repetitive, from the increasingly familiar stories and footage, and slight. While these stories may give some children the inspiration to look at the stars and dream, they don't make for a particularly engaging documentary.

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