Ad Astra
Brad Pitt delivers an emotional stellar performance as Roy McBride, fearless astronaut attempting to protect earth and find his father along the way.
An emotional journey with One fearless mans long voyage to the stars as a successful, recognized astronaut in search of the things we all seem to have in front of us. Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is dedicated to his line of work due to his father’s absence in his life, Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), another hero in this world who gave up his life as a father and a husband to journey deeper into the unknown for the sake of research and preventing issues the world may encounter.. We embark on an emotional conquest with our hero Roy McBride through the infinite space to fill a void of a missing parent he once knew.
Here we notice the dominating orange lighting color scheme while following Ruth Neega and Brad Pitt through this visually pleasing symmetrical scene, much like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Stunning views of space as we know it seen throughout this emotional film. The Cinematography and CGI helps us feel that void of loneliness through the wide shots of how vast the universe is and how small one can truly be. Much like interstellar but Ad Astra (Latin for To The Stars) carries a weight to it that’s painfully exploring the psychological process of our celebrated heroes at NASA. The writers make sure we know how unafraid/un-phased one must be to go to space and carry out these missions. Time and time again throughout the film, we see Roy challenged with emotional trauma and his journey being held up due to his emotional state presenting a self inflicted dilema he must overcome.
Recognizable symmetrical scenes can be noticed much like 2001 A Space Odyssey, when aboard each spaceship, we can notice how every room follows the dynamics of one shape and doesn’t break that pattern which makes the film very pleasing to the eye. Also, don’t be surprised if you see a gorilla or two much like the celebrated Kubrick film offered us.
Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones execute a beautiful idea of each character using their line of work as an excuse to escape the things that they believe they don’t need as astronauts. As the film goes on, we’re well aware that Roy is following in his father’s footsteps of forgetting about his life at home and creating a home out in space where he believes he belongs along with his work. The emotional acting from the two shows us how some voids can never be truly filled by those things we search for but truly with the things right in front of us.
Throw in a strong atmospheric musical score that allows us to witness space under tones of loneliness and bravery, and we have Ad Astra scoring a solid 8.5/10 displaying one of Brad Pitt’s finest performances. What lies beyond us in space may be terrifying and expose the true idea of what it means to lack companionship but what’s in front of us on earth can sometimes be more welcoming.
