Perhaps if it had committed to one of its stools to sit on, Ad Astra would have been a much better film than it was. Of course a big budget sci-fi with great effects, big names, and plenty of talent was unlikely to be a 'bad' film, but in this case it seems not to be totally sure what sort of film it is trying to be, and in trying to do multiple things, it fails to merge them into a working whole.
The story is of a son sent on a mission to intervene with the actions of his father, who was once assumed dead deep in space, but now is believed to just have lost his mind and is now threatening the viability of Earth. Broadly speaking it is very much Hearts of Darkness or Apocalypse Now in its episodic journey up-river to the core. It wears this literary history quite heavily, and it really leans into the meditative elements, with lots of silence, thoughtful stares, etc. While this gives it a very serious tone, it doesn't have the depth or reflection in content to support beyond this point, leaving it feeling a little superficial. This feeling isn't helped by the clash with the OTT sequences of 'action'. Mostly they are not particularly thrilling, even though they are well delivered and look good. Too many are daft though - and it is the serious tone that makes them feel that way, because I was more than happy with the same sort of stuff in The Martian - mainly because that film didn't try to convince me it was the most serious artistic and thoughtful film of the decade.
Pitt is strong in it, and his performance is precisely what the film calls for. Shame that he is part of the problem in terms of the tone, but it is not really his fault because nothing else in the film suggests there were efforts to bridge the gap or make it work better. Likewise the supporting cast, and talents in the crew all do a lot to make the film better, but the fundamental issue can't be addressed because it is the core of the film and nobody is working against it, so to say.
In the end it is a mixed bag. There is plenty to like about it, but it doesn't gel as an effective whole - not serious enough for its sombre tone, or fun enough to sell its moments of action.
The story is of a son sent on a mission to intervene with the actions of his father, who was once assumed dead deep in space, but now is believed to just have lost his mind and is now threatening the viability of Earth. Broadly speaking it is very much Hearts of Darkness or Apocalypse Now in its episodic journey up-river to the core. It wears this literary history quite heavily, and it really leans into the meditative elements, with lots of silence, thoughtful stares, etc. While this gives it a very serious tone, it doesn't have the depth or reflection in content to support beyond this point, leaving it feeling a little superficial. This feeling isn't helped by the clash with the OTT sequences of 'action'. Mostly they are not particularly thrilling, even though they are well delivered and look good. Too many are daft though - and it is the serious tone that makes them feel that way, because I was more than happy with the same sort of stuff in The Martian - mainly because that film didn't try to convince me it was the most serious artistic and thoughtful film of the decade.
Pitt is strong in it, and his performance is precisely what the film calls for. Shame that he is part of the problem in terms of the tone, but it is not really his fault because nothing else in the film suggests there were efforts to bridge the gap or make it work better. Likewise the supporting cast, and talents in the crew all do a lot to make the film better, but the fundamental issue can't be addressed because it is the core of the film and nobody is working against it, so to say.
In the end it is a mixed bag. There is plenty to like about it, but it doesn't gel as an effective whole - not serious enough for its sombre tone, or fun enough to sell its moments of action.