Review of Ad Astra (2019) by Mpreviews — 12 Oct 2019

Pros:

-Solid characters that I found myself fairly invested in.

-Good performances, particularly from Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones.

-Great visuals and atmosphere.

-The way the film portrays space travel is very interesting since it’s very likely that that is what it will actually be like in possibly a decade or so. -The movie is slow paced, but unlike Star Trek: The Motion Picture where it was only made like that to pad out the run time, in this film it works in favor of the story. -The film as a whole feels realistic, which makes it even easier for us to connect to these characters.

-The scene where Tommy Lee Jones’ character, H. Clifford McBride, commits suicide nearly made me tear up, something only a few films in the past have managed to accomplish.

Cons:

-The placement of the scene where Roy, Brad Pitt’s character, is collecting data from the Lima Project I found confusing because it happens after H. Clifford McBride commits suicide and the transition to this scene doesn’t make it clear enough that it’s a flashback. I admit it’s a nitpick, but it left me a little confused when I watched the movie. -While I believe the slow pacing works in the film’s favor as it helps to add suspense to the movie, it may turn off some viewers who are looking for a more fast paced action heavy sci-fi movie, and some of the trailers for this movie make it seem as though this is something like that, when it reality it is slow paced and doesn’t have too much action. -Roy seems a little too devoted to saving his father considering what he knows what he has done to his other crew member and he even straight up tells him he never cared about him or his mother, especially considering how emotionally detached he is portrayed as being in the movie.

-The film’s main core message seems to be one that I think most people already know. It still serves as a good cautionary tale, but it’s still a message I feel like most people are already aware of. -It’s kind of hard to be invested in Liv Tyler’s character because we see very little of her throughout the movie. We only really care about her because Roy cares about her, and that’s not really a good thing.

Final verdict: I enjoyed Ad Astra. I have a few small issues with it here and there, but it is overall a well made film that I would recommend checking out. Just be sure you know what you are getting into when going to see it.