Review: Ad Astra

In the vein of great space odyssey’s comes Ad Astra. A visually stunning film that pulls from many films before it. Can Brad Pitt and his steamy eyes pull you into the cosmos or will you be left adrift until your oxygen runs out?

Brad Pitt stars as Astronaut Roy McBride, a stalwart man that hides and even shuns emotions because of his past and what he’s made himself in to. The path that he both runs from and towards centers around his missing father Cliff McBride, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Working in space gets him one step closer to answers, and possibly, death. Proven true when a dangerous pulse interrupts the planet and its electronics. Its point of origin, the edge of the solar system. Finding himself alive after a harrowing ordeal, Roy is approached by the powers that be, as they have decided that he might be able to help fix this galactic issue.

Help is an understatement though as he soon discovers that his father may still be alive and possibly the cause of these dangerous pulses. Shipped off to Mars to try and have a father and son chat over a million miles, we are introduced to a future with violence and danger beyond every airlock. Can he make a connection with the man that abandoned him or will Roy reside in the unknown darkness of space?

As a film, Ad Astra is first and foremost visually interesting. Space in the near future is always fun to hypothesize and usually gives us a glimpse into current strategies and the forethoughts of the Director. After the visuals though, this film unfortunately spins out into multiple vectors. The main story of finding Roy’s father covers all of the side stories we see, but soon we realize that most of those are just flashing lights and the waving hands of the Director to get your attention from the banality of near-future space reality and the overall plot.

If I’m honest, sitting through the film was edge of my seat, not because of excitement, but with the hope that around the corner would be an answer or a twist that would encompass the film and the reasoning for the whole movie experience. What I wanted and what we got were not only far apart, they were in different galaxies. Traveling to the edge of the universe gave me not answers, but a platitude that couldn’t help the audience to survive the landing. So on the whole, I am not a fan of the film, but I cannot say that the pieces and the acting of Brad Pitt count for nothing. They are a shining star, but a star that was perhaps too far away to reach with this script.

Grade: C-
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2h 2m