Honestly, I'm on the fence about grading this film. As a big space exploration enthusiast, I'm tempted to give it the highest possible score. A production of this calibre comes only once in a few years (I'm talking Interstellar / The Martian / Contact / 2001 A Space Odyssey magnitude). I wish more films like this were being produced. At the same time, this film fails on an important note where the aforementioned others have succeeded, to follow the breathtaking space endeavor visuals with an equally thrilling plot, appealing to the general audience as well as to space buffs such as myself. Granted, it is a very rare goal to reach in a world tainted by the mediocrity of appealing to too wide an audience, by dumbing down potentially decent films (The likes of Armageddon, where Lyv Tyler played a similar role). Choosing between the two possibilities, I prefer films to fail on account of aiming too high over setting too low a bar.
Similarly to Contact and to Interstellar, Ad Astra sets to explore the personal themes of a father / child bond over the vast distances of space. Intertwining ingenuity, bravery and advanced technology (grounded to a believable level that seems like it could be just within reach), with the most basic human instincts of loving our family and wanting to protect them.
Yes, this could have been faster paced. The psych evaluation monologues were a bit much. Some scenes we could do without (lunar pirates). But it was such a delight to watch the beautifully and realistically rendered space scenes on the big screen. I am grateful to all the creators for pulling this off and appreciate the obvious effort that went into this. Thank you.
Similarly to Contact and to Interstellar, Ad Astra sets to explore the personal themes of a father / child bond over the vast distances of space. Intertwining ingenuity, bravery and advanced technology (grounded to a believable level that seems like it could be just within reach), with the most basic human instincts of loving our family and wanting to protect them.
Yes, this could have been faster paced. The psych evaluation monologues were a bit much. Some scenes we could do without (lunar pirates). But it was such a delight to watch the beautifully and realistically rendered space scenes on the big screen. I am grateful to all the creators for pulling this off and appreciate the obvious effort that went into this. Thank you.