Review of Ad Astra (2019) by Treestand — 22 Sep 2019

Ad Astra is a beautiful film. The wide panning shots are some of the most amazing and immersive space moments I've seen on the big screen, and if you plan on seeing this film, see it on as big a screen as you can.

That being said, it doesn't tread in waters any different than Gravity of Interstellar or Space Odyssey, but wears their influence on its sleeve in a way that is reminiscent of feeling awe in the presence of a great replica of an even more awe inspiring original artwork.

BUT, sadly, beyond the visuals, and maybe the sound, the film falls rather flat from beginning to end. Brad Pitt's character is a caricature of a 50s/60s era action hero. A no nonsense militant man who never loses his cool except for when he is faced with his daddy issues.

And boy does this film dunk your head in his daddy issues, over and over and over again. I picked up on the fact that this character had father issues, and that his father was a perceived hero and potential villain VERY early in the film as this is clearly and plainly spelled out to the audience.

Despite this the film decides to forgo any relevant character building in order to reinsert a reminder of said daddy issues every ten to fifteen minutes, and if it's not Brad Pitt staring out into the abyss whispering 'father.

..' to his distant lost daddy/cosmic creator then some other character is introduced only to mention his father in some capacity and then exiting stage left as quickly as they arrived. It gets real old, and real perplexing, and feels a lot like getting hit over the head with a daddy/god mallet over and over again to the point of seeming comedic or cartoonish instead of deep and meaningful.

Then there is the problem with this film's attempt at being deep and meaningful. It really tries to be deep and meaningful but never seems to inundate you but up to the ankle. Moments of 'Look inflation in the future, an expensive blanket', or 'Look, capitalism on the moon' come across as intriguing but are rushed out of frame as quickly as they are shoved into your face (much like every jarring cameo) making room for more daddy issues, and reminders that Brad Pitt is very cool and collected, until he is not.

Then there is the over the top/possibly inspired by Herge's 'Tin Tin goes to the moon' action sequences that are so at odds with the tone of the majority of the film that it continuously felt like I was shifting between two movies.

Ten minutes of attempted deep/atmospheric/slow brooding character stagnation then ten minutes of chaotic 'armageddon' level action sequences (with monkeys) where everything that could go wrong does go wrong like clockwork, but somehow our hero never makes a wrong choice, and if he does, it gets him where he is headed even faster than otherwise.

This film is a fever dream of someone coming to terms with the absence of their father, and it is a mess. A pretty mess filled to the brim with miscalculations, wtf were they thinking moments, and a great sense that whoever wrote the script did absolutely no research into how physics works in space.

It's more Star Wars space fantasy than scifi, but without any of the fun, and a lead up to a climax and revelation that seems so silly and contrived it makes you wonder how this film got so many great actors to do so little for such a long slog of time.

It is pretty though, I'll give it that. See it with your dad? Or don't.