Astronaut Roy McBride ends up on a new top secret mission across the solar system in an attempt to make contact with his father who he had been believed dead for well over twenty years.
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Ad Astra doesn't mess about as we see Roy McBride taking a rather crazy fall at the start of the film and that is when we realise that the world and universe in this film is very different to our own. Although told at the start in the not so distant future, but when space travel to the Moon is available to all (well dependant on money) we can then see a different version of our world.
It creates some very interesting thinking points in all honesty and the fact that when landing on The Moon it just looks like any airport we currently have. You would think things would be different but that just shows that if mankind build somewhere it will really look the same.
Roy's top secret mission is changed when he is told that they believe his father H. Clifford McBride is actually still alive and responsible for the power surges that Earth had felt and effected the whole universe. He must travel to Mars and then onto Neptune where his father had made it to, he must spend a lot of time alone and do so for a long time whilst travelling.
I felt the style of the film was very interesting and enjoyable, it was visually stunning with the different space shots and of course the many close up shots of Brad Pitt. Sorry I had to go there, this film really did make me realise that Pitt certainly does still have it and put in a very haunted performance as Roy. A character that we don't fully get to know but we get to know part of him and are inside his head as he struggles to come to terms with his life. The meaning of his life and if the missions will actually make any difference to eventually answering the questions of what is out there!
The astronauts whilst in space and on the missions must complete psychological tests to ensure they can mentally continue to work. Something which I guess would have to be done in that type of environment? Watching the film and the way everything was organised just felt well, real. I am sure that sounds a little bit silly but the build up of everything and how things worked just felt real to me anyway.
Trying to find the words to do the film credit is something that I feel I am struggling with in all honesty, as everything about it just worked so well. I was engrossed in the universe and wanted to explore it with Roy. I obviously will not spoil the ending, throughout I wasn't fully sure of which direction they were going to take everything in which can only be a big compliment to the film. Space films really do seem to engage me and this one could well be the best we have had this decade. Yes, I have gone for that very bold statement!