Ad Astra

I should have stayed away when I heard some of the interviews about it... but I didn't. If they had dropped the budget and not taken it so seriously, it actually would have been a fun albeit ridiculous space adventure. It really had all the makings for campy Science Fiction fun. The potential was there. But, instead, the film took itself too seriously... so seriously that kind of lost the fun element behind it. And it took itself seriously because of the political message attached to it, and unfortunately it's kind of directed towards the "everything has to be political all the time" crowd and they take everything so seriously that nothing can be fun. But the potential was there. It wasn't dark enough to be Sci-Fi Horror ala Alien... and the plot lends itself to campy Sci-Fi adventure, or at least a Sci-Fi adventure... and even there politics are integral to the plot. Science Fiction is a satire of some element of culture, but it's done in a way that is entertaining. Had they toned it down a bit, had they not thought they were making Chinatown, it would have been much better. Instead what you have is pretentious, heavy handed, and boring.

It is hard to write anything positive about Ad Astra but I shall try.: it does look great; the visual effects are unique in their brilliance and application, except, perhaps, for Star Trek, Star Wars, Mars, Starship Troopers, Battlestar Gallactica (you name it! ). The film moves along with the pace of a an elephant trudging through fudge (or something of a similar colour) and by about half an hour in, I found myself considering the cardinal sin of the cinema - looking at my phone for messages I knew I hadn't received since sitting down. As ever with these kind of films, I am grateful that their box office viability helps cinemas to stay afloat in times when many prefer to watch on their televisions at home; but aside from this tangential benefit, this has precious little else to offer. I expect Brad Pitt may skirt over this film in his career retrospective autobiography one day... Drivel!

One of the most emotionally impacting films I've ever seen. With its amazing cinematography and great performances it won me over.