Patience pays off in slow-burn sci-fi
Visuals are among genre’s finest
Ad Astra Sky Cinema Premiere ●●●● ●
In a modern movie market saturated with superheroes and sequels, and rocking with reboots, it’s always nice when something shiny and new comes along.
Though it takes influence from scifi hits like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Gravity, Ad Astra is an original piece of work directed and co-written – with Ethan Gross – by James Gray (We Own the Night, The Yards).
Its impressive cast is led by Brad Pitt, playing astronaut Roy McBride who undertakes a space mission to uncover the truth about his missing dad Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) and his doomed expedition.
Much like Gray’s last flick, The Lost City of Z, Ad Astra is a slow-burner with a two-hour-plus running time that will test even the most patient cinema-goer.
The New Yorker rises to the challenge of helming his biggest, most ambitious movie, though, with visuals worthy of comparison with the genre’s finest.
Like the aforementioned Gravity, we feel like we’re right there with Roy in space as intrusive close- ups and expansive wide shots capture the interior claustrophobia and exterior wonders and danger of his mission.
I almost wish this had just been a film focused solely on Pitt – who is superb – as the storyline progression involving
Jones doesn’t really click; and is too reminiscent of horror-flavoured pulpy sci-fi like Event Horizon and Sunshine than the human drama we’ve been accustomed to earlier in the movie.
Set in the near future, the world of Earth-bound conflict and tourist trips to the moon feels lived-in and perfectly plausible.
Ad Astra won’t be a universal crowdpleaser, but if thought-provoking drama set across the galaxy with formidable acting is your thing then prepare for lift-off.
● What are your thoughts on Ad Astra? Where does it rate on Pitt’s performance level scale?
Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.