Ad Astra: Review

Space: an existential frontier. Films set in space have fascinated audiences on topics like the evolution of consciousness (2001: A Space Odyssey), the ingenuity of the scientific mind (The Martian) and even the emotional cost of temporal physics (Interstellar). Science fiction has taken many characters into iconic journeys filled with wonder (Gravity) and horror (Event Horizon), and if you want a film which tries to combine as many of them as it can into one, with a heavy dose of Apocalypse Now for good measure, you’ll get Ad Astra.

The story is one we’ve seen many times before. A revered astronaut (Tommy Lee Jones) has gone rogue and now threatens humanity, and now it’s up to his son (Brad Pitt) to go to the edge of the solar system, find him and stop him. The film touches upon many of space exploration’s themes, the search for alien life, the emptiness of space, the determination to finish a mission at all costs, and if you’ve seen any of the film’s I’ve mentioned above already, you’ll be able to predict every beat of this story. Ad Astra borrows to the point where it would have been thrown into a debtor’s prison if such a thing existed for cinema.

The story is one we’ve seen many times before

That isn’t to say that it’s a bad film because it is honestly a very well-crafted experience. Whenever the film is set in space it excels. There are shots of stunning beauty throughout that allow us to understand why so many are willing to risk the dangers of living among the stars. The action sequences, including a moon-buggy chase and an encounter on a derelict station are tight, thrilling and make good use of the unorthodox physics on hand. Despite the 12A rating the film doesn’t veer away from the violence of space and all the pain the characters go through has an impact. It can be a very visceral film, and the cast all keep this in mind, delivering strong, grounded performances all the way through. If it achieves nothing else, it sells an authentic space-based future for humanity.

If you want to see an entertaining science fiction film this will work for you. It has good pacing which keeps the audience engaged but is also willing to pause and take in the beauty of the film’s various settings. The music is excellent, the CGI is faultless and the world feels lived in and consistent. As a product it serves its purpose, but it struggles in defining itself outside of its influences.

That isn’t to say that it’s a bad film because it is honestly a very well-crafted experience

If Ad Astra has any identity of its own then it lies within its main character Roy McBride, who is defined almost entirely by his angst surrounding his father and his ability to compartmentalise at the expense of everyone else around him. McBride does what many of his fictional predecessors do. He keeps his emotions in check, he ruminates on the meaning of existence and he finds both pain and beauty in his surroundings. Unfortunately, the film does this mostly through his overbearing narration, which, given the way its shot and the strong performance Pitt is giving, is mostly unneeded. The last thing this film needed was to have its main character sound like Martin Sheen monologuing when he is already undertaking Martin Sheen’s journey from Apocalypse Now almost beat for beat. Other than McBride and his father, the film has people who contribute to his journey but no one who stands on their own. You will not remember anyone else, if you remember McBride at all.

If 2001: A Space Odyssey was an adult walking in the snow then Ad Astra is its child following in its footsteps

If 2001: A Space Odyssey was an adult walking in the snow then Ad Astra is its child following in its footsteps. It hits all the right beats, making its own smaller print in the vast sea of white, but it won’t make the same mark in the snow as its predecessors. Ultimately it wraps itself up too neatly, afraid almost to leave anything dangling by the end. Whereas 2001 and Apocalypse Now both left their audiences with questions which they still debate decades later, this film will serve as a functional piece of science fiction that shows how far we’ve come, but doesn’t indicate where we’re going next.