Ad Astra

[Barry]

       I found Ad Astra to be an overlong, slowly paced and plotted movie that was boring, pretentious and when it grows up, wants to be 2001. There were several references to that here. Except, instead of Hal, the people were all robotic. I saw it in Imax.
 
Briefly, in a very futuristic world which has designs of going into Space, Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels first to the moon, then to Mars and then to Neptune to discover the secrets of life in Outer Space. On the moon he is chased in moon buggies by pirates. Yes there are pirates on the moon. How they get there and how they will get off I don’t know. There, and throughout the movie, people are randomly killed, with no emotional consequence or response for anyone.
 
As if this was a silly sci-fi from the 1950s, all astronauts carry guns that work in space, following the thought that there need to be little logic in this movie.
 
The Special Effects were good, but nothing new or exceptional.  The surround sound was also good.
 
I never got into or believed this movie. Honest to gosh, we were the only ones in the theatre.  I don’t think this movie is doing well.
 

[AVSCraig]

Too bad, as I'm always up for a good sci fi flick. Seems Bill at Digital Bits didn't like it either. The spread between critics and audience ratings at Rotten Tomatoes is large. 

[Paul Heroy]

Watched Ad Astra earlier this evening. My brother and another friend gave it a big thumbs up.

I nearly fell asleep.

To me it was an obvious metaphorical therapy session, psychological movie from the very start with Brad Pitt's character voicing a diary entry type line, and undergoing a psych evaluation. Said psych eval recurs often through the movie. Internal/external mirroring of emotional distance and inability to communicate, which results in self destructive behavior.  After confronting his father at Neptune there's literally a "breakthrough" as Pitt tears off a panel to use as a shield as he vaults himself thru the rocky ring. (Apparently Neptune's ring is not that dense.) The "moon pirates" or whatever they were had no explanation because it's all a metaphor for the fears we conjure to keep us from confronting our needs. It's beautifully filmed, at least. 

I thought Annihilation with Natalie Portman delved into this kind of psychological SF much better with a more layered and deeper story that made me really think it through. I admit when I initially watched it, however, it didn't immediately grab me as some things didn't make any sense until I thought about it. (For example her squad of only female scientists struck me at first as aggressively feminist but then I realized they were all elements of her own psyche and had to be female.) There was enough there to provoke that reflection, whereas in AA I didn't feel there was as much depth.

[AVSCraig]

I've watched Ad Astra a couple of times now. I like it for what it is. The " moon pirates " are people fighting for scarce resources. This is a good plot examination - 

Ad Astra Ending Explained: What Happened And What It Means - CINEMABLEND

[tripplej]

Thanks Barry for your analysis. I will skip this movie.

[bmoney]

def a meh film