So, I haven't reviewed a movie on here in over 4 months. Honestly, it seems like this has just become Zay's Music Blog, but the reason for that is I haven't too many movies recently. I saw Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was really good (Probably a B+), but I didn't feel the need to review it because I didn't have a whole lot to say about it. I was on the fence about doing It Chapter 2, which was decent (Probably a B, maybe a B- on a bad day) and I had enough to say for a review, but at the same time, I was working on a couple other projects on here and I didn't have room for it. So, with that out of the way, I wanted to review something special, something that I feel deserves a review, and well, I found it. This is Ad Astra.
Ad Astra is directed by James Grey and stars Brad Pitt and is a movie set in an unspecified time in the near future. It's about Pitt's character, Roy, an astronaut, as he travels through space to find his father, whose experiments deep in space may have earth shattering consequences. So, I heard about this movie through people on Twitter saying everyone should see it because they didn't want it to bomb, like some modern space movies have (First Man for example). Reviews were strong for this one, but after I got home from seeing it, the audience reaction was pretty mixed, and I think I know why; It's the advertising of the film. The TV spots released before the film tease a fast paced, action-heavy space thriller, and that's not what this film is. It has a couple of those elements, but this movie is a slow-paced character study that involves space travel, and it's a shame that the reaction's are like this because for what this movie's going for, it's great.
What holds this movie together is two main things; The cinematography and Brad Pitt's performance. This movie looks absolutely stunning. The use of color, lighting, and camera movement make space feel massive and endless, as it is. This is the kind of film that has to be seen on the big screen to really understand what I mean. If you wait to see this film on your TV screen, you're really missing out on what the cinematography has to offer.
Now, let's talk about Brad Pitt. This man is incredible in this movie. His performance is subtle, but incredibly effective. If you pay close attention to his character, there are little things with his posture and facial expressions that make his character's progressive and emotion throughout the film makes his character very compelling and relatable. He definitely deserves high recognition for his performance and I wouldn't be surprised if he got an Oscar nomination for this role.
I also really dug the themes of this movie. Going into them in full detail may be spoiler territory, so I'll be as vague as possible, but if I spoil something, you can't say you weren't warned.
This film touches on learning from your mistakes and having to deal with that. It ties in well to the plot, especially in the third act, and it adds emotion to the story. The way it's presented is not too much in your face and is more of something that's implied for the most part.
However, that's where my main problem with the movie comes in. While most of the storytelling is visual and subtle, there is narration used throughout the film to spell out certain elements of the plot. Sometimes it's necessary because Roy is a quiet character, but there are moments where it affects emotion that could've otherwise been shown through Pitt's performance or other storytelling techniques. It gets unnecessarily distracting, particularly in a couple scenes where the film lost potential impact.
With that being said, this movie is still a well-made and unique film. For those who like their slower paced sci-fi that makes you think, this is right up your alley. Pitt's performance and the cinematography alone make the theater experience worthwhile, and there's more than that here. This is sure to end up as one of my favorite movies of the year and it gets a strong recommendation from me.
Grade: A-
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