Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse. Minor spoilers will be included in this review.
Ad Astra is a science fiction space opera that stars Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Donald Sutherland, and was written and directed by James Grey. Pitt plays Major McBride an Astronaut who is recruited to journey to the end of the universe to discover if his father and the doomed expedition he led may be a threat to all life on earth.
Under The Lens: Perspective
Perspective: Ad Astra is a picture drenched in the idea of perspective, how we view the world, and how others, in turn, view the same things we do but may see something different. The first viewpoint that is introduced is the perspective of Major McBride and how he idolizes the image of his Father while also fearing that he is becoming like him. When he is presented with the idea that his father may be a monster responsible for countless deaths, he feels his father is being set up as a fall guy for SPACECOM and its mistakes. However, we see this perspective change when he is shown a video by an emotional Commander that seemingly implicates his father as being responsible for killing many under his command. For the bulk of the picture Tommy Lee Jones, Dr. McBride is cast in grainy and illlit video footage giving him a monstrous image, of a religious man consumed with pride and with no conscience.
However, once McBride gets to Neptune and comes face to face with his father and the doomed Lima Project, a much different man is shown, broken down, almost blind and frail, a far cry from the monster of the grainy footage before. He is consumed by the desire to not fail, much like his son. The perspective of Dr. McBride is then shifted from a monster back to a normal man, a commander who may have just been doing his job all along. Having dealt with two mutinies and damaged equipment, it is then revealed that Dr. McBride discovered there was no intelligent life, beyond our solar system (the purpose of the Lima Project). Faced with what he thought was failure McBride abandoned his family to forever gaze beyond the stars, even if it meant enforcing this will on his subordinates and crew. His son’s perspective of his father has then changed again, as he realizes his father is not a monster but a man brought down by his hubris.
Roy McBride after facing obstacles similar to his father decides to make alterations in his own life, to halt the path he was going down. He sees that his father was so consumed with what was beyond the stars he forgot what he had close to him. We then see Roy repairing his marriage and with an improved mental state. Both men went on a journey, one of discovery, and one of destruction, however, Roy’s path of destruction led him to self-discovery while his father’s search for self-discovery leads to his destruction.
Highlights
The picture has some truly beautiful imagery, Hoyte Van Hoytema who was also responsible for Dunkirk and Interstellar brings the picture to life in a moving and emotional way.
A surprise encounter on a dead space station with a group of vicious and murderous Baboons was intense and rather chilling.
The picture is very singular in its focus on Pitt’s McBride, and this is a plus as we get the contrast of wide-open space from a closed shut psyche.
Something to think about
Was Dr. McBride a villain or just a man doing a job that took him over the edge of sanity?
Conclusion
Overall I loved Ad Astra, the themes of perspective, and how this affects our lives and relationships resonated with me. It presents us with the idea that heroes and villains are largely dependent on our perspective, Ad Astra was a deep dive into one man’s journey to overcome his father’s shadow and be his own man. For him to gaze within he had to journey to the far side of the galaxy, he followed in his father’s footsteps and discovered it was not what his father had done, but the choice he made at the end of the road, at the conclusion of where his various choices had taken him that defined him. His father chooses to abandon his family for a dream of glory and meaning, while Roy got to the end of the road and went back to what mattered to him. Ad Astra is a deep dive into one man’s journey to overcome his father’s shadow and be his own man. Along the way, we are treated to fantastic imagery and an Oscar-worthy performance by Brad Pitt. Ad Astra will make you think, and ponder not just what lays beyond the stars but what lays within your own heart.