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Ad Astra
(20th Century Fox/Regency Enterprises)
By Lucas Allen
Throughout the 2010s, audiences were taken to the depths of outer space while exploring the depths of humanity. Films like “Gravity,” “Interstellar” and “First Man” help reshape everyone’s perceptions of life beyond Earth that science fiction has already exhausted. The new drama “Ad Astra” adds to this growing list by exploring the infinite possibilities of what space travel could happen in many years. It also takes a serious page from the earlier films of how the advances can affect the real world.
In the near future, astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is known to keep cool under pressure while working above the planet. However, his work ethic has estranged him from his marriage to Eve (Liv Tyler). While working on the satellite base, a mysterious energy, The Surge, has knocked out power all over the world. Soon enough, it’s revealed that it may have been caused by Roy’s thought-to-be-dead father Dr. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) after being lost in space from a failed mission to find intelligent life. Afterwards, Roy suits up with his father’s fellow astronaut Pruitt (Donald Sutherland) to head out on a mission to find his long-lost father.
Along the way, they stopped at the moon base, which is also a tourist destination, before being ambushed by moon pirates. Despite that, Roy and his team traveled to Mars so that he can make his last-ditch effort to communicate with his dad. But a young woman living on Mars (Ruth Negga) reveals some crushing information about what Clifford really did on that mission. This leads Roy to make the ultimate choice that could decide the fate of both his dad and the universe.
The film’s director, James Gray (“The Lost City of Z”), isn’t interested in making a sci-fi action picture, but rather using words and images to tell a story. It’s told from Roy’s inner monologue mixed with fantastic, eye-catching visuals along with periods of intense action. Many viewers will find it too slow and pretentious though the intentions by the filmmakers do work and it makes the film stand out from the others. It’s the kind of movie that rewards you for maintaining your patience throughout its two-hour runtime.
With that said, the filmmakers did an incredible job making a movie that gives you access to what may happen in 10 or 20 years. There are plenty of interesting ideas presented, like the concept of life beyond Earth, as well as space travel as common and casual as airplane travel. It’s easy to poke holes at those ideas, but it’s fun to watch and think about those possibilities. Not to mention, some of the action are pretty exciting while the human drama is well written and well-acted. By the end, you’ll come out of it feeling like you’ve been through an out-of-body experience.
The top-notch acting also helps add to the unique experience. Pitt is simply astonishing giving a very genuine performance as a man on a personal mission that could cost him his life. The rest of the cast are basically playing small roles but with pivotal moments to shine. With Jones and Sutherland, they do deliver with the few scenes they were in.
“Ad Astra” is science fiction at its most surreal and realistic. It may not be for everybody, but it has enough moments of greatness that makes it very worthwhile in its own way. Whether or not it will have any awards impact is anybody’s guess, but it’s still worth watch any day.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for some violence and bloody images, and brief strong language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
