Spaced-out fantasy

AD ASTRA

Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler

Director: James Gray    

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Mystery

Rating: PG-13

RUNTIME: 124 Mins

James Gray’s metaphysically-themed cosmic saga Ad Astra (a Latin phrase ‘Per ardua ad astra’, ‘through struggle to the stars’) is perhaps Hollywood’s most realistic depiction of space voyage to date – not by glorifying space tourism but celebrating human relationships.

Taking place in a near-future, a similar premise of 79’s Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen toned narration, Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is on a save-the-Earth mission to unravel the mystery behind his missing-believed-dead father – a rebel scientist, Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), whose expedition to Neptune, 30-years-later, poses a threat to humanity.

Roy’s journey reveals secrets that challenge the very nature of human psyche, its existence, spiritual belief and our place in the universe. Director James (The Lost City of Z , The Immigrant) is aware of the “been there, seen that, done that” issue in the vast sci-fi space hits of the past decade including Gravity, First Man, Interstellar and The Martian, that have focused on individual astronauts’ self-discovery in isolation. His believable dystopian time – the “hope” for intelligent life in the outer space and at the same time the “conflict” deep within, through a work of deliberate grandness – rejuvenates this archaic genre and makes the film special.

Collaborating with co-writer Ethan gross, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), production designer Kevin Thompson, music composer Max Richter and visual effects supervisor Allen Maris, James creates sheer spectacle of sound and image – a grandeur cosmic opera that takes place on Earth, the moon, Mars, Neptune, including a traditional Mad Max action sequence and a bizarre fight scene. It’s pretty much one man in every single frame, Brad Pitt – the one man anchors his career best performance. It’s also a tough competition to another Pitt from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for the 2020 Oscars.

He is steady and always ready to do his job to the best of his abilities. He is calm as his heart rate never raises 80 BPM, no matter the stress level of the situation. He remains focused. And yet he doubts whether he is right. Liv Tyler, Roy’s estranged wife unfortunately has one dialogue or two. Jones as Clifford is the best Papa. Other supporting characters played by Donald Sutherland and Ruth Negga are in small roles but important. James ambitious opus Ad Astra, beating its heart on futurist Arthur C. Clarke’s famous line “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying”, is deeply personal. It is still arguable whether the film is a masterpiece close to Andrei Tarkovsky’s great Soviet sci-fi Solaris (1972) or Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as declared by some of the top critics, but James certainly has made his masterpiece. And we’ve got the best film of the year.