The opening passage of 'Ad Astra' depicts explosions and mass casualties on Earth caused by power surges emanating from Neptune. A mission to the distant planet had gone missing a couple of decades earlier - and the authorities suspect its commander, a legendary space veteran called McBride, may be still alive and responsible. Another Neptune mission is hastily organized to prevent further mayhem - and McBride's astronaut son is drafted as a crew member.
Junior is dispatched from Earth to Moon, and onward to a remote launch pad on Mars before setting off for Neptune. On the way he endures various trials and tribulations - some of them rather surreal. The narrative arc has echoes of Bowman's quest in '2001' and Willard's river voyage to confront Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now', but it lacks the conviction of these earlier films. Despite several dramatic episodes, Junior's odyssey feels emotionally flat as he trudges on toward his goal, periodically clarifying his mental state in voice-over monologues about his fatherless youth.
As the story arrives at the final act, the screenwriters appear to have exhausted their creative repertoire, and are clueless how to wrap it up. They fabricate some juvenile space-suited antics, similar to those which sabotaged Sandra Bullock's adventures in 'Gravity'. 'Ad Astra' has been marketed and reviewed as if it were highbrow Sci-Fi with a Freudian subtext, and the proceedings make little sense unless McBride's entire journey is a redemptive fantasy following the film's opening sequence.
Junior is dispatched from Earth to Moon, and onward to a remote launch pad on Mars before setting off for Neptune. On the way he endures various trials and tribulations - some of them rather surreal. The narrative arc has echoes of Bowman's quest in '2001' and Willard's river voyage to confront Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now', but it lacks the conviction of these earlier films. Despite several dramatic episodes, Junior's odyssey feels emotionally flat as he trudges on toward his goal, periodically clarifying his mental state in voice-over monologues about his fatherless youth.
As the story arrives at the final act, the screenwriters appear to have exhausted their creative repertoire, and are clueless how to wrap it up. They fabricate some juvenile space-suited antics, similar to those which sabotaged Sandra Bullock's adventures in 'Gravity'. 'Ad Astra' has been marketed and reviewed as if it were highbrow Sci-Fi with a Freudian subtext, and the proceedings make little sense unless McBride's entire journey is a redemptive fantasy following the film's opening sequence.