Review: Ad Astra (2019)

I was expecting a generic and lazy depiction of sci-fi, but I was truly blown away after finishing this. Ad Astra is right up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey in terms of beautiful cinematography and photogenic scenes. Although I don’t think it’s fair to make any more comparisons because Ad Astra is a completely different movie from 2001, especially in terms of characters and story. This movie takes us in the shoes of Roy McBride which is played by none other than Bradd Pitt but rather than playing a bombastic and heroic character, like he did in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, he instead plays a reserved and stoic one which his main prowess is literally not going over a certain heartrate.

This makes it very difficult for me to relate to Roy due to his inherent apathetic nature and generic motivation that inevitably propels him throughout the plot of the movie. The plot is also nothing new or nuanced, it’s the usual rescue mission of a loved one that goes wrong in many forms along the way, but I personally don’t think it’s bad or anything, it just serves its purpose well and that’s that. But the shortcoming of the movie is, I think, miniscule when compared to the visual beauty of some of the scenes that is present in the movie. And as the movie goes on, these visually appealing scenes become more and more prevalent which is always a welcome sight to be had.

Personally, I really really loved this movie despite the weird and sudden gore and its seemingly invincible protagonist, this movie is able to ask the question of “Are we alone in the universe?” And it manages to serve up the answer at the same time. What do we do when we know that we are truly alone in the universe? Do we just deny this proposition and continue our seemingly futile search for life? Or do we just accept this answer to the fermi paradox and try to hold each other even tightly than before?

Ad Astra asks us to consider our place in the universe, it shows us how even when technology has become so advanced and is able to be commercialized in such a trivial manner, we will always question our place and existence in this seemingly infinite universe. One might say that this movie is all style and no substance but that could not be further from the truth. Ad Astra is truly a sci-fi movie that is worth your time, it might feel off in some places, but it compensates greatly in all other aspects that it gets so brilliantly right.

-written by Kevin (kru’20)-