Thirty years ago, Clifford McBride led a voyage into deep space, but the ship and crew were never heard from again. Now his son -- a fearless astronaut -- must embark on a daring mission to Neptune to uncover the truth about his missing father and a mysterious power surge that threatens the stability of the universe.
Brad Pitt has got quite the track record when it comes to films, he's done it all really, but his latest film has him playing a courageous astronaut who sets out to find his father in space to stop the world from destruction, which his father is responsible for. Unfortunately for me, these types of films always make me feel quite tired and sleepy, due to the slow movement and starry scenery of the film - however, there was definitely lots to desire here and the film gave me plenty to think about. But I've had to wait to see this a little later due to my holiday, and finally I've seen it! But has it proved to be out of this world, or was it more of a crash landing? Here are my thoughts.
One of the most interesting elements of this film is the audio and how it is mixed into the film, even as some of the names of people involved with making the movie came up at the start, there was a slow and unnerving single sound which acted as a really mysterious and exciting way to start the film because it built an element of mystery right from the very beginning. Also as the film begins there is a narrative which helps to explain the timeline of the story, as well as a few lines which help to simplify the story right from the very beginning, meaning that it is much simpler and easier to understand throughout the film. Another element of the film that I thought was especially good was how well the characters were played and represented in a variety of different themes and environments, seeing the really cool space scenes with astronauts flying around and on the International Space Station gives a really exciting start to the film, not only through amazing views but also it is beneficial to the character understandings that we have because it allows us to get a good idea of the various roles of the characters - for example we get to see how Roy reacts to the surge explosion up close and personal which gives us an intense viewing experience. The way in which characters are represented here feels great, I love how multidimensional they feel - when characters have an emotion then we can clearly see that in the way they communicate and act, such as when the captain of the shuttle to Mars is killed by the SOS call, characters really feel like they are genuinely upset and that they are distracted and disheartened by the previous events, not only does this make them feel really immersive but it's beneficial to our viewing experience because it makes them feel much more realistic too. Another way in which this is well portrayed is through the personal nature of the film, Roy’s father is the objective of the mission and this personal element to the mission and film not only clearly affects Roy’s actions and emotions but it also helps to give the plot and characters of the film a meaning and purpose, they aren't just doing it stereotypically to save the world, but throughout the film it focuses less on saving the world, and more on Roy reconnecting with his father. This is exciting to watch, but also helps to keep us interested in the film because we understand that there are real and genuine reasons for the character's choices - so we aren't left feeling bored because of some unrealistic events or character relationships, but as the films plot angle changes, it helps to change and mould our perception of the characters and the plot which I love!
Like most space and SciFi films these days, Ad Astra uses emotion a lot more than tension which clicks very well because of its solid background score. The characters really interact and communicate with each other cleverly too, the dialogue is clever because it is kept to a minimum because the narrative by Roy takes over a lot of the film, but when there is narrative is feels straight to the point, quick and powerful which feels suitable here due to the complex and scientific nature of the timeline and plot - it just ensures that instead of focusing on small scenes which hold no relevance, the dialogue here actually holds importance and is key to understand the characters emotions and current events. I will say though, if you're going in expecting a sci-fi film like Gravity or Interstellar with huge action set pieces, shocking plot twists and edge-of-your-seat moments, you're going into the wrong movie. This is an epic character-driven drama disguised as a sci-fi film, It poses very important questions about humanity's venture to the stars and how we've might've been looking in the wrong direction the whole time. Maybe it's unwise of humanity to search the stars for something to save us or to give us meaning, while ignoring what's happening to humanity in the meantime, and the film uses that underlying theme of humanity in crisis really well through small pieces of dialogue which are definitely notable - especially considering the chilling current events that we are witnessing. Brad's the real draw here, but don't dismiss the supporting cast during this film. Between being plot devices and obstacles, most are there as stepping stones on Pitt's quest, but almost every one of them has a revelation whether spoken or quietly demonstrated in jest. I love the variety of different characters here though, not only does it feel like there is a real community surrounding the mission through various characters that we see again and again, Roy is the main character here by far, but I think that the smaller scenes with other characters really help to add excitement and intensity, such as the fresh and unusual scenes where they are being chased by pirates on the moon, something I've never seen before but when characters we don't know too well die on the vehicle from weird ray guns, we definitely feel that setback because of the way in which the characters are drawn together in communities, with Roy skipping through them all. One of my favourite elements which relates to the character aspect of the film though is how there is a strong underlying meaning between Roy and his father, throughout the film it personifies his Dad abandoning him for space travel, and seeing his father admit that he never cared about his family and the Earth because he was that committed to his job was a really powerful scene, especially when we see Roy shed a tear - it was scenes like this and the themes it produced that just really helped to make the film much more than a journey to rescue someone on Neptune, because for Roy, it was a journey to find his father who wasn't interested in him. There was definitely a great and immersive character set here, they even started to go crazy after a few months of being alone - it was the little things like this that just helped to make them feel really exciting.
As well as this though, I was really impressed with the plot and execution of the film, not only did it feel like it was well thought through but its unique structure helped it to flow perfectly, reducing pointless conversations and unnecessary scenes and concentrating more on the actual point of the story and current events. The film also ensures that the audience is kept as entertained as soon as possible by jumping straight into the story and the action, there isn't really an introductory scene to learn about the characters because it's just not necessary here so I'm glad they left that kind of stuff out. As mentioned before, I love how well the film flows here, because of its rule against unimportant scenes, all of the parts are important and it can be difficult to get a flow between such important scenes but the great use of narrative allows the film to cut quickly between scenes whilst still maintaining a theme and allowing us to use the narrative to understand and follow the events of the film easily. For example, when Brad is on the flight to Mars, it isn't just a simple straightforward flight, during their stop to help the other flight, there is a key emotion of nervousness amongst the characters, and the sudden attack from the experimental monkey, all of this is compressed into quite a short scene which helps to show us what happened, leave a lasting effect on us and then move onto the next scene without messing about or wasting time - it helps to keep the film exciting and fast-paced where appropriate. In general though, I just love how unique and well thought through the plot feels, even something like the scene of destroying Roy’s father’s ship is exciting because of their fight, Roy committing suicide due to failure of his mission and then the nuclear bomb going off and propelling Roy back to Earth, scenes are full of excitement and action-packed and this just really helps to keep the film fun, realistic and exciting to watch. Even themes like Roy’s father using the mission to escape from Earth and people just left a lasting effect that leaves people thinking about our future as a population - I liked that because it fitted well into the plot whilst being kept on the down-low so it wasn't obvious but it was definitely a big and powerful part behind the story.
The film wasn't perfect though, my main issue is that a few of the scenes towards the end of the film just really felt like it didn't make sense and kinda confused me. Scenes like everyone trying to kill Roy after he breaks into the space shuttle (even though he knows them all and he assures them he is peaceful) just makes no sense, I didn't know why the characters felt so violent and what their motives were and that made the scene quite confusing for me.
Also, the story just doesn't make sense in terms of realism and some of the actions of the characters, a guy needs to travel all the way to mars to send a voice message to Neptune? It couldn't have been sent to Mars? Brad Pitt needed to be in a soundproof room to record a message?? He's able to board a rocket as it launches? The heroic leap from one space ship to another using a panel to deflect all of Neptune's ring rocks. Erm, not sure that would work? None of this stuff makes sense and even though it isn't necessarily a deal-breaker, it definitely has an impact on the films overall appearance. I also found the last 20ish minutes really confusing, there wasn’t really any explanations for what was going on and this just meant that instead of taking in the events of the film, I was just watching
Overall, I would give this film an 8. It’s quite disappointing in the sense that Brad Pitt has been in some really great films recently and with the really high expectations that I had for the film, the fairly poor sense of realism and confusion really feels like it let the film down. Although in terms of character models and the actual plot, I was really impressed, I liked seeing things like commercial flights to the moon and moon pirates from the future because it felt unique and fresh whilst giving us scenes which we haven’t really seen or experienced before in film. The characters were great too, I liked how they interacted with each other in a way which keeps us updated with what is going on in the film with no distractions and helps to keep scenes quick and short, this is refreshing and is a good move away from the typical film structure where we see a lot of pointless scenes. Would I recommend this film? Sure, it is good – it’s quite difficult to keep up with and understand towards the later stages of the film because of the lack of explanation that it provides us, however the personal feeling to the film and the unique plot idea to give an exciting and interesting viewing experience that is quite unlike anything else I’ve seen recently.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! J If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!
https://www.facebook.com/Film-Talk-605719843173687/
Comments