For some time now, I have been debating whether or not to write my review on this film as I think it might be a bit controversial. Well, I decided to just go for it.
Ad Astra, meaning ‘To the Stars’ in Latin, is a 2019 American psychological Sci-Fi drama co-written by James Gray and Ethan Gross, and directed by James Gray.
Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is an astronaut who has taken after his father in dedicating his life to space exploration. His father is the respected and renowned astronaut, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) who was lost sixteen years ago, and presumed dead, in his galactical search for intelligent life under a covert mission known as the ‘Lima Project’.
We see an unsafe world that is experiencing unusual occurrences like fire outbreaks, explosions, planes malfunctioning and dropping from the sky, etc. Roy is invited by space command and informed that the cataclysmic manifestations are due to the solar system being hit by mysterious and dangerous power surges which threaten all of human life. They expressed their suspicion that the surges might have something to do with the Lima Project, and that in fact, it was possible that his father was still alive at the Lima Project space station in Neptune, where he, and the crew he led, had been stationed. Roy’s assistance was needed in their attempt to establish communication with his father. Accompanied by his father’s former associate, Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland), Roy set off to the closest place from which contact can be established – their underground communication space station on Mars.
The journey is quite an eventful one:
First, they land on the moon and are attacked by scavenger bandits on their way to their command base located there. They survive and manage to reach the base, but Colonel Pruitt suffers cardiac complications and is unable to go further with Roy. Before they part, however, Pruitt passes on confidential information to Roy – if he is unable to establish contact with his father, then the Lima Project station will be destroyed.
Second, while on board Cepheus, the Spaceship that would be dropping him off on Mars, a distress call from a Norwegian biomedical research space station was received which the ship’s captain insisted on responding to, despite Roy’s objection. After all, his mission far outweighed whatever the distress call was about. It turns out that some experimental baboons had gone wild and killed everyone at the Norwegian research space station. The ship's captain was attacked and dies from the wounds he sustained even after Roy had come to the rescue. For me, this was the best and probably the only exciting part of the film. If the movie had been based solely on the crazed baboons trying to kill members of the space crew and the crew’s fight to survive, that would have been absolutely awesome and fine with me. As it was, this scene was a brief spark in a dark dark tunnel and a cruel teaser that didn’t go anywhere. We weren’t even given any explanation as to what and how these monkeys came to be the way they were. We could only assume.
The remaining journey to Mars is turbulent and difficult due to the surge. After landing on Mars, he is met by the space station’s facility Director, Helena Lantos (Ruth Negga), after which he is shown to a room where he was required to record some prewritten messages which was sent out to the Lima Project Station. Roy does it a couple of times unsuccessfully, before deciding to go free-style in an emotional plea to his father. As it turns out, Clifford does send a response, but Roy is not privy to it. Fearful that the project might be jeopardised due to Roy’s personal connection with Clifford, space command refuses to let him join in on the mission to the Lima Project station. This doesn’t go well with Roy and he had to be removed and placed in another room to calm down. This is where Lantos finds and informs him that both her parents had been part of Clifford’s Lima Project team. She shows him classified video recordings of mutiny by the crew who were attempting to return to earth, but Clifford had prevented them from doing so by cutting off their life support. Lantos then tells him that the Spaceship, Cepheus, was actually on its way to destroy the Lima Project space station with a nuclear weapon.
Roy’s subsequent defiant attempt to board the spaceship, and the scuffle that ensues, proved unintentionally fatal to the crew and consequently, he was all alone on the seventy nine days journey to Neptune. It is during this period that we are let into the mind of Major Roy McBride. For a young boy who worshipped his father, suddenly losing him left Roy with hidden daddy issues. Growing up and trying to fill his father’s shoes certainly didn’t fill the void in his life. Not even his estranged wife, Eve (Liv Tyler) had been able to occupy the emptiness he felt within. Convinced that he had inherited his father’s anger issues, he strove to keep himself and his emotions in constant check and control. This ensured he remained cool in all circumstances.
Of course arriving and landing at the Lima Project station wasn’t an easy one. Roy carries on with the mission to destroy the station, and plants the nuclear weapon. He discovers that Clifford had indeed killed his crew years ago and was the only one alive. Clifford appears mentally insane as he was still adamant on continuing with the project, despite its deadly repercussions to earth and humanity. He confesses a lack of love for his family or earth and no longer considers the planet his home. After copying all necessary files, Roy tries to persuade his father to come with him before the station explodes. Roy does manage to take off with the reluctant Clifford before the explosion. Unfortunately, at Clifford’s pleading, Roy had to release him into space where he definitely met his death.
It’s strange that the only way to talk about this film, is to basically summarise it in almost its entirety. That’s because I don’t know where to begin with my analysis. Let me start by saying, James Gray did a fab job with the film’s directing. The picture, special effects and space imagery were spot on. It was an all star cast, and they are all brilliant actors in their own right. Brad Pitt’s delivery was amazing. Being such a versatile actor, it’s not surprising that he gave such a convincing performance.
Having said that, even though I tried to make the film sound good in my summary, in truth, I found the story quite uninspiring and the plot, apart from the scene with the baboons, very boring. I haven’t felt this bored watching a film since 2004's Polar Express!! The slow melancholic tone and periods of empty silence were worthy of deep, restless sighs. Not even the few action scenes were enough to compensate. Sadly, I thought it was a complete waste of resources, cast and talent. I’m sure a lot of people might disagree, and I would like to know your take. Please leave your comments.
Rating? 5.5 out of 10.
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