Ad Astra

Ad Astra is a science fiction film with an all-star cast led by Brad Pitt, including Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland. In the not so distant future, it follows Roy McBride, an astronaut, who must go on a mission into space to locate his long lost father and determine the cause of a threat to the Solar System.

The previews for this movie really hyped it up. All the reviews about how this is one of Brad Pitt’s best performances ever really drew me in. Visually I thought that the cinematography was well done. It was very vast and bright and the juxtaposition in the colors was brilliant.

After fully digesting Brad Pitt in this role I felt that he just borrowed from character in Meet Joe Black. His portrayal of Roy McBride required that he didn’t show a lot of emotion so I didn’t see a lot of range there until the end. It wasn’t a terrible performance, but just felt like something I’ve seen before. In regard to the rest of the cast, I liked Toomy Lee Jones and Ruth Negga in their roles but wished they both had more time to fully develop their characters. Of everyone I felt like Liv Tyler’s character warranted a lot more screen time. Her role was so basic and one dimensional that they didn’t even need a big name to fill it.

I found the plot to be very slow moving and the mood of entire movie to be flat. There were only a couple of times throughout the entire film where I felt any type of excitement or suspense. For the most part this movie was long, dry and boring. This is the type of space movie that I try to avoid.

Overall I think that the hype wasn’t warranted. I like Brad Pitt but this wasn’t one of his best films and in my opinion is one that can be skipped.