‘Ad Astra’ is a slow ride through space that will divide audeinces
Brad Pitt stars as Roy McBride in “Ad Astra.” “Ad Astra” is now showing in any theatres near you. Photo by CNet.
By Jack Murphy
A&E Editor
Brad Pitt has returned to the big screen alongside director James Gray with the new space odyssey “Ad Astra.” “Ad Astra” stars Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland and Liv Tyler. It follows astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt), the son of legendary astronaut Clifford McBride ( Jones) who went missing decades ago on a top secret mission. When the Earth is threatened by a galactic force of nature, Roy is sent into space to save the planet from the crisis.
This is the first film directed by Gray that I have ever seen, and it is unique nowadays that I walk into a movie knowing nothing about it that also is not part of a franchise or a sequel, which only fueled my excitement. Pitt is also one of those few real movie stars left in Hollywood, and he picks good scripts way more times than he picks a dud. “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is a great example of this. To prove my point, Pitt has picked another great script and is phenomenal in the film, but “Ad Astra” is not for everyone.
The biggest positives “Ad Astra” has going for it are Pitt’s performance, which is worthy of an Oscar nomination, its visual effects and cinematography. Pitt’s character is someone that hides his stress and feelings behind a cold exterior, which makes him phenomenal at his job. He has a calm demeanor and is a superhero in space, meaning he does not fail much in the film. This can get boring, but once his journey becomes more personal, his shell begins to break down, and the audience gets to see more of his personality. Pitt is featured in all two hours of the film’s runtime, which is hard enough for even some of the best actors without proper direction, but Pitt is such a natural at this point that he nails it.
The cinematography and the visual effects are the best I have seen all year. Hoyte Van Hoytema is the cinematographer for “Ad Astra,” and while one might not recognize his name, his work is fantastic. He has been the cinematographer for films like “Dunkirk,” “Her,” “Let The Right One In” and “Interstellar.” For anyone that is a fan of “Interstellar,” “Ad Astras” is going to look familiar and have the same beautiful visuals that made “Interstellar” one of Christopher Nolan’s best films.
“Ad Astra” has a lot to say about what grief and obsession can do to people – how one’s obsessions can blind their judgement and the way they look at people. The film shows what happens when people focus solely on work to such a degree that they forget what makes them happy and lose their personalities. From personal experience, I have seen how stress and obsession can make people so focused on whatever they are doing and how they tend to hide their emotions, which is something “Ad Astra” nails.
The biggest problem I have with “Ad Astra” is the film’s pacing and the obvious pattern the film follows. The official runtime for “Ad Astra” is two hours and four minutes, but “Ad Astra” feels like it is three and a half hours long and is dreadfully slow. Most of the time, there is little going on in the film, and it led to me checking my watch from time to time hoping the film would just end. While I am not opposed to slow-paced movies, the pacing was too slow for me personally.
The film also follows a bland and repetitive pattern: First, Pitt has to go from point A to point B. Second, Pitt’s inner monologue plays while beautiful shots of space are shown. Third, there is a conflict and action scene. Fourth, Pitt successfully escapes from the conflict. Fifth, it all repeats. The dialogue from Pitt was taken straight from a “Lincoln” commercial starring Matthew McConaughey. Again, this might just be obnoxious to me, but the pattern became apparent early on, and I could easily begin to predict what would happen.
Overall, “Ad Astra” is a slow space movie that will sharply divide audiences. Pitt gives an excellent performance, but the pacing and McConaughey-esque monologues from Pitt bring down the film. However, the stunning visuals alone make this a fantastic experience in an IMAX theater. I give “Ad Astra” a B-.