Ad Astra. Hacia las estrellas

I went to see Ad Asta yesterday evening. After the superb images in Gravity or Interstellar, I was curious to see what 2019 brings. I wasn't disappointed, the movie is very well shot, the Space images are well made, deep sky, the Planets, the Moon, really nice.

However, I think the movie was ruined by its screenplay which lacks of coherence. The story is really weak and undeveloped. There are many fractures in the reality of space travelling,

You almost have the feeling that the screenplay was written to have a support for the images, nothing more.

So yeah, I give this movie a 6 and I'm sad to see how a possible epic movie is ruined by a weak screenplay.

'Ad Astra' was a film I knew nothing about going in, and i'm glad I went in blind. It was visually gorgeous with nail biting set pieces, but the story hit me in just the right spot. It takes a good script for you to hear voice over in lieu of dialogue and not feel like you're being cheated, and this script was, in my mind, excellent. It's a vibe-y film that spends a lot of time in silence, and if you're like me you'll really appreciate the time it takes to develop the emotional and visual severity. On its surface it's a space epic, but in its heart it will speak to victims of depression, as well as anyone who's ever spent years feeling like they didn't belong. It takes a journey greater than most are wiling to take to find your deepest demons and confront them. Absolutely loved it.

Let me start off by saying that the movie's pacing is unusual (think of the pacing of Interstellar; constant progress), but unlike Interstellar, this movie's climax is not as strong- but that's not a bad thing.

The whole movie is about how Brad Pitt is calm on the outside, but inside he is a storm of feelings. This can be a metaphor for space itself- always quiet, but is very complex inside.

The end of the movie (without spoiling it) also works with that logic- there is no loud Inception horn, in fact, seemingly it's pretty relaxed, but you can still sense the tension and emotions going on.

Now that's what I call "show don't tell"

Hello from Earth, Moon, Mars, Neptune, Space. Brad is all over the place. The film starts with a great sequence for approx. 7 minutes, which is captivating and visually stunning. Unfortunately, then it gets to a slow-burn mode till the story develops a bit more and we get to see another visually impressive sequence past 30 minutes. It does get more interesting later on and together with the visual impact (a kind of dreamy action sequences) and the nicely written score you will want to sit this through the end. Acting is good and for fans of Brad Pitt, this works perfect as he is in almost every scene. Science...well i am not an expert here but the things portrayed in the film are not really tied to exact science. It is the future after all and humanity knows more, right? I would not read too much into that; it will help you enjoy the film more. In contrast with some negative and maybe unrealistic reviews that I read here, if you like a mix of mild father-son drama together with sci-fi, this is a very nice film to watch. 8/10

The film maker makes a bad cover of Apocalypse Now with elements of Gravity but the final result is terrible. I thought that Pitt would do a good performance after "Once upon a time..." but I was wrong. The composer of the soundtrack imitate to Hans Zimmer on Interstellar but again fails this element. Maybe the next time.