When, late in the 21st Century, the Earth is bombarded by disruptive electronic waves seemingly emanating from Neptune , the U.S. Space Command contacts unflappable astronaut Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt).
It turns out his legendary father, Dr Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) disappeared in that area decades ago.
He had been leading an expedition to the edge of the solar system in pursuit of proof of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.
SpaceCom reveals to Roy that they believe his father is actually alive and they want him to travel to Mars to send a message to where they think his father's craft is, to try and find out what is going on.
However, upon reaching Mars, Roy discovers that the story he grew up believing about his father's heroism might not be the truth, and darker things are afoot.
Very quickly, the cineliterate will realise that
Ad Astra is
Apocalypse Now in space.
Roy's journey into the heart of darkness of space is a a series of vignettes, random encounters (
to borrow a gaming phrase) with people and incidents that echo Willard's journey into Cambodia (
there are no tigers in space, but there are experimental primates).
This connection is heightened by Roy's inner monologue and, later, the playing of random excerpts from Clifford's log, when he's seeking to justify his actions.
As the film strives to present a realistic view of space travel (
more Gravity or The Right Stuff than Firefly or Star Wars), this throws up some bizarre incongruities along the way, like the moon buggy chase with gun-totting space pirates and the utterly preposterous sequence when Roy "breaks in" to a launching rocket.
Ad Astra could also have benefited from more time with Clifford in its last act, giving Tommy Lee Jones a chance to go full Marlon Brando and start mumbling about "the horror, the horror".
Conversely, the whole sub-plot about the "power surges from space" hitting the Earth felt, ultimately, redundant.
Even though it served as the inciting incident that sent Roy off on his melancholic solar quest to find the father he had long thought dead, it added a level of confusion to the story that just wasn't really needed.
Especially when it seemed, in the end, the problem was essentially solved by flicking a switch.
There are also inevitable
2001: A Space Odyssey vibes from
Ad Astra and the Chekhov's Gun feeling that there's going to be a big twist, or some major surprise, in the final act.
Spoilers: that there isn't actually plays to the hard science message of the story, and I'm not one to quibble over what a film
isn't about as writer-director James Gray and co-writer Ethan Gross clearly had a point they wanted to make about man's place in the cosmos.
And they made it. I'm just not sure how well they made it.
Ad Astra was the new movie premiere on Sky Cinema today (Friday).
