Ad Astra

The Lost City of Z was probably the best live-action film of 2017 that I never had the chance to see. But I had the chance to see director Jason Gray's followup. It's his long in development, long-delayed and long-anticipated sci-fi opus Ad Astra. Just imagine Apocalypse Now in space and you have this:

Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) lives in the shadow of his father, Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones). Clifford commandeered the Lima Project, a mission to contact extra-terrestrials, which vanished years earlier. Roy is aboard a giant space satellite when Earth is hit by a cosmic surge. One of several, as we find out. He barely survives the ensuing free-fall.

His superiors trace the surges back to Neptune, the last known whereabouts of the Lima Project. They realize that Clifford is still alive and is responsible for the surges. Roy is sent on a mission to Mars to appeal to Clifford to stop the project. The long space journey gives Roy a lot to think about.

It sounds like a slow ride, doesn't it? Not really. It's only 124 minutes and its plot is lightning quick. The initial cosmic surge and Roy's mission are set up in about ten minutes. And then, it's off to space. Roy's narration lets him reflect on his life and the loneliness of space, among other things. Along the way, Roy gets in a shoot-out with lunar pirates, encounters rabid baboons aboard a space station and indirectly gets his crew killed. The ending nearly buckles over Clifford's motivations. But it's not as baffling as 2001: A Space Odyssey's ending.

Roy's journey to the unknown is a stunning ordeal. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, production designer Kevin Thompson and the visual effects department present a bleak, yet visually appealing view of space. The visual set pieces demand the audience's full attention. Roy's plummet to Earth and his space jump through Neptune's rings are thrilling modern serial scenes. Meanwhile, the sound mix spells out the desolation and loneliness of space. It's easy to see why people can go mad in space, which they do. Max Richter's soft score further emphasizes the introspective story.

Ad Astra is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. The opening scene on Roy's satellite is worth the price of admission. Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones's performances capably lead the audience through its story. Gray's film is almost a space oddity for its fast and slow story. That's an achievement.