Ad Astra

This review may contain spoilers!

This was a strange blend between science-fiction and poetry; sometimes it was absolutely beautiful and sometimes it was nonsense. I would give Ad Astra a 6.5/10.

Ad Astra is set in the near future in which the world is under threat due to electric storms created by an insane leader of a space expedition team. Now the man's son, astronaut Roy McBride, has been tasked with journeying through the galaxy in order to reach out and stop his father from dooming the human race.What really strikes you about this film is the incredible presentation of the setting; watching this vision of how space travel evolves is quite simply incredible. The evolution of space travel to involve a colonised moon and Mars is well presented, especially how the Moon is divided up into territories by different governments. This film truly feels guided by a vision held strongly by the director and that comes across in how this production has been assembled visually. The cinematography captures the feel of motion in space so fluidly; there's also such a rich vibrant colour palette utilised that outpaces a lot of films I've seen this year. The special effects are subtle and look almost effortless, thought it's very clear a great level of detail has been inserted to make every rocket, planet or asteroid belt as immersive as possible. The score is one of the crowning achievements of Ad Astra, it is an otherworldly sound that transports you far away from your cinema seat directly to the stars.

LisaGay Hamilton, John Finn and John Ortiz, who played Adjutant General Vogel, Brigadier General Stroud and Lieutenant General Rivas respectively, really draw you into the story and work well as a group to deliver exposition that could otherwise have come across as boring; it's a really tense scene and Ortiz in particular does a great job of leaving you on edge.

However, the best performance came from Donald Sutherland, who played Thomas Pruitt. This is a role that leaves you unnerved at first, he's a suspicious individual who seems to hold a lot of knowledge over the protagonist. Sutherland embodies a role that is a bit of a watchdog, he looms over Pitt's character and seems to almost taunt him with information that is forbidden him. There is a weariness to this old guard astronaut, he seems weighed down by all he's experienced which makes a fine contrast to the protagonist. Sutherland presents a very practical, seasoned company man and it's interesting to see his morals surface in the face of his health issues when he confides in the protagonist.

The problem with Ad Astra predominantly are the characters and the main overarching narrative, everything is presented in a flat tone that makes it extremely hard to connect with. As a protagonist Roy McBride isn't exceptionally interesting; he's very capable of doing his job as an astronaut but he never has a lot to him. McBride delivers a dry, monotonous voice over throughout the feature that grates against the audience and drags the pace of the film right down to a crawl. Beyond this we never get a personal connection to McBride despite it being a very personally driven story. The story itself is quite simple, a son looking for his father and attempting to understand if his father is a good or bad man. The story keeps taking you off the beaten path, showing you the surrounding world or pausing to have long moments of self-reflection that aren't especially engaging. The main storyline never really feels as urgent as it should, the relationship of the McBride's isn't anything original and just feels stale to watch. Ultimately while Ad Astra is a modern marvel in terms of direction and production the docile plot and uninspired cast of characters seriously let it down.

Brad Pitt, who played Roy McBride, presented a role who came across as flat and incapable of being a protagonist you can connect with; Pitt really feels distant to the role and at times the character feels like it was meant for a different performer. Tommy Lee Jones, who played H. Clifford McBride, has such a shallow presence considering the significance placed upon his role; Jones doesn't really seem to understand what his character is guided by which makes for a disappointing final act. Ruth Negga, who played Helen Lantos, is the epitome of a wasted performance and character; Negga shares some significant connect to Pitt's role but is shunted into the background almost as quickly as she appears. Liv Tyler, who played Eve, shouldn't even really be in this movie; Tyler's talent is wasted on a two-dimensional wife character with a subplot that feels very tacked on to the film.