Ad Astra

I watched this at the end of a hectic work week, and it was a relaxing thing to watch. I appreciated the slow pace and sunk into it.

Cool cinematics too, great scenery etc

I know people are moaning about science anomalies but I didn't care 1 jot. Not really the point of the film.

I do get peoples point of the Donald sutherland character, not sure what he was about/point of him etc

But overall a lot better than the formulaic screech, bang, shoot, kill type films out there these days...

But I'm glad I gave it a go

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"

I like sci fi as a genre because of the ideas. There doesn't need to be shocks, suspense even. But there should be excitement, often borne of seeing a clever idea germinate, take root and blossom...ideally into a dark flower. Ad Astra has one narrative thread, a couple of ideas, but nothing beyond that. It's an extemely rushed film...2 billion miles in 2 hours. It's rushed and dull though...not a good combination. The dramatic mkments are crow-barred in...the moon sequence...the Norwegian space ship. Neither are there to move narrative or charchter forwrd though, and as such feel terribly contrived. And as for this film's Colonel Kurtz...don't bother. I kinda wish i hadn't.

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

Ad Astra uses the unlimited potential of sci-fi films, a genre, that can basically be used to develop themes about any psychological, or phylosophical problem there is. All the themes are very rich, and even though it's a space epic set in a world where traveling to the moon is not a very unusual thing to do, it all feels very real and personal.

This is a cinematic masterpiece in directing, sound and cinematography. It resembles 2001: A Space Odyssey in a few ways, mainly the lighting, and the colours of some scenes, a few angles too.

It always follows the main character's perspective, so the voiceover kind of makes sense, it's always the things that he thinks, or the stuff that's in his mind.

The music compliments the events of the story very well, the sounds were pretty realistic and jaw-dropping, and almost every frame is just beautiful.

The acting is mostly good. There weren't a lot of people in the film, but Brad Pitt and Tommy-Lee Jones are knocking it out of the park.

I only have a few little issues with the movie.

There was a scene with a CGI monkey, (you all know what I am talking about), which just came out of nowhere. It was really odd, and out of place. Also, the CG on it was the weakest in all of the movie.

My second issue was with the scene on the moon, with other vehicles. It was foreshadowed, but it really didn't need to be there, and while it was made very well and effectively, the events themselves are too unrealistic because of how convenient some things are.

Also, there are sequences where milimeters could matter, lives could be at stake if someone makes a mistake, and sometimes they are lucky enough to conveiniently survive.

But overall, this is something I'd like to see again. It shows how much ambition Sci-fi has, but it also shows what could go wrong with it.