Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drinking, drug reference, some language in space comedy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Space Cadet
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Rex (Emma Roberts) has always been a smart, outside-the-box thinker, but her plans to go to college and have a STEM career were derailed when her mother got ill in SPACE CADET. Flash forward ten years, and Rex is a party-loving bartender in Florida. A high school reunion reminds her of the plans she left behind, so on a whim, she applies for the astronaut training program at NASA. Her best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu) reworks her application, embellishing it with all kinds of lies, and it gets her into the program. When Rex figures out her credentials have been misrepresented, she decides to forge ahead anyway and follow her dreams. At NASA, she will have to compete with other highly educated candidates under training by handsome scientist Logan O'Leary (Tom Hopper) and whip-smart astronaut Pam Proctor (Gabrielle Union).
Is It Any Good?
This silly tale of a hip Florida bartender making her dreams come true at NASA is a Legally Blonde for astronauts, but it's farther fetched than Mars. Roberts is charming and deserves a more substantive lead role than she's given in Space Cadet. The same could be said for supporting cast members, who do their best with the film's mostly zero-gravity humor and pacing. The funniest sequences are the ones with the least dialogue, like when astronaut candidates start hallucinating during extreme training exercises.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what aspects of the astronaut training in Space Cadet might be based on real programs at NASA. Where could you find more information?
Why does Rex decide to go ahead with the pretense even after she figures out Nadine has fudged her credentials? What would you have done in her shoes?
Rex likes to say "Never give up on your dreams." What dreams do you have for your own future? Did you have dreams in the past you wish you'd pursued?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 4, 2024
- Cast : Emma Roberts , Tom Hopper , Gabrielle Union
- Director : Liz W. Garcia
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Prime Video
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : STEM , Friendship
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : some strong language and brief drug references
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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