Ad Astra
Year: 2019
Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt & Tommy Lee Jones
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 18/09/19 (Legacy Review)
Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt & Tommy Lee Jones
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 18/09/19 (Legacy Review)
Legendary science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once wrote “Either we are alone in the universe or we are not, both are equally terrifying”. That is what I believe the message behind Ad Astra is trying to say, however the epic space odyssey it is trying to take viewers on never leaves the launch pad.
The synopsis to the film states it’s about Brad Pitt’s journey across a lawless solar system to find his missing father; a renegade scientist who poses a threat to humanity. This is not what the film is about, there is very little to indicate that the solar system is “lawless” other than a very short segment involving pirates which doesn’t actually indicate lawlessness, but instead that some people just choose to break the law. Nor does it ever explicitly state that Tommy Lee Jones, Pitt’s father, is a “renegade”. It’s certainly implied, but it isn’t actually resolved in a meaningful way.
Ad Astra is a bloated, directionless mess of a film that is hampered even more by the fact that it is almost entirely devoid of any emotion. This had been hailed as one of the best performances of Pitt’s career, bold words following his role in Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but although the acting in Ad Astra is certainly not ‘bad’, I would be hard pressed to find an audience member in my screening that actually connected with the characters in this film as they are all so emotionless (There were several people saying these exact thoughts as we were exiting the screen). I assume this is an intentional decision, but it doesn’t work, I didn’t care about these characters or ever understand their motivations for why they did what they did (besides Tommy Lee Jones for reasons I will not divulge as I do not want to spoil the film).
Was the film pretty? Yes. Did the film have substance? I would argue no. It is simply a failed attempt at a deeply philosophical science fiction film. Just go watch Gravity, Interstellar, or 2001: A Space Odyssey instead, they will be much more rewarding for the time you invest in them whilst being more visually stunning.
The synopsis to the film states it’s about Brad Pitt’s journey across a lawless solar system to find his missing father; a renegade scientist who poses a threat to humanity. This is not what the film is about, there is very little to indicate that the solar system is “lawless” other than a very short segment involving pirates which doesn’t actually indicate lawlessness, but instead that some people just choose to break the law. Nor does it ever explicitly state that Tommy Lee Jones, Pitt’s father, is a “renegade”. It’s certainly implied, but it isn’t actually resolved in a meaningful way.
Ad Astra is a bloated, directionless mess of a film that is hampered even more by the fact that it is almost entirely devoid of any emotion. This had been hailed as one of the best performances of Pitt’s career, bold words following his role in Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but although the acting in Ad Astra is certainly not ‘bad’, I would be hard pressed to find an audience member in my screening that actually connected with the characters in this film as they are all so emotionless (There were several people saying these exact thoughts as we were exiting the screen). I assume this is an intentional decision, but it doesn’t work, I didn’t care about these characters or ever understand their motivations for why they did what they did (besides Tommy Lee Jones for reasons I will not divulge as I do not want to spoil the film).
Was the film pretty? Yes. Did the film have substance? I would argue no. It is simply a failed attempt at a deeply philosophical science fiction film. Just go watch Gravity, Interstellar, or 2001: A Space Odyssey instead, they will be much more rewarding for the time you invest in them whilst being more visually stunning.