REVIEW #287 Ad Astra (2019)

An Astronaut embarks on a dangerous mission across the solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and a series of strange power surges effecting Earth.

Ad Astra is so much more than the usual sci-fi space epic. It takes us on a psychological exploration into the mind of Roy Mcbride, portrayed brilliantly by Brad Pritt, whilst illustrating the beauty of space with magnificent cinematography that combines art and film perfectly into each frame. For those who are expecting exhilarating set pieces all the way through, this is not that kind of sci-fi, it has those moments but that’s not what the movie is centred around. It can be slow paced at times, focusing on the psyche of its lead protagonist but that’s an aspect of the movie which I appreciated a lot. 

The central story that runs through the spine of the film basically tosses back and forth on the idea that Roy’s ‘Hero’ father, is actually quite the opposite and the audience is taken on the ride to the truth right along with Roy. It mirrors father and son and almost teases the idea that the latter is destined to commit the same sins. I for one enjoyed the deeper premise and although it requires concentration to understand each factor that’s presented to us, it’s certainly worth it. What I will say is that I would have liked a little more context to some of the obstacles that arise for our protagonist. Pirate factions on the moon, rage ridden apes in space, these types of things pop up and are relatively brushed over with little to no explanation. Now of course you can make logical assumptions and realistically these aren’t really factors that effect the plot too much so it’s not really important, but there’s so much more to know, which would have been interesting to learn.

My favourite part of Ad Astra? Undoubtedly the cinematography, this film is a piece of art! It’s illustrious colour grading makes each frame a sight to behold and it makes the movie so captivating. Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer, produced a career best performance, or at least matching that of Interstellar. This man’s portfolio is insane and he’s cemented himself as one of the industries very best. 

Ad Astra has been on my watchlist for a long time now but it was FilmCrooks post that gave me the motivation to watch as soon as possible, so credit to him for that! I’m so glad I got round to checking it out though and I actually think the movie is being slept on by a lot of the film community, including myself up until this point! It deserves more appreciation and it’s now up on Netflix so hopefully it’ll garner a larger fanbase now. So it’s a strong recommend from me, I hope you all enjoy it!

Overall (9/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan