My Review of "Ad Astra"

Ad Astra didn't seem that interesting in its trailer. It basically explained to us that there's an astronaut that's sent on a mission to find his long lost father. What I didn't realize is that they wanted to keep much of the details under wraps because there's so much more to this movie than just that. There's the journey of his self discovery. It's an interesting story but not exactly a movie for everyone.

This movie is set in the distant future. At least I think it's in the distant future because the technology seems to be way beyond what we have today. The story revolves around Roy McBride, a hot shot astronaut that seems to be capable to doing anything. He's put into some sticky situations and we realize he works really well in stressful situations. Somehow he's able to keep his blood pressure low and keep cool no matter the crazy situation he's placed in.

He's put in this crazy situation in space where he almost dies from cosmic flares coming from an unknown source. The scene is pretty epic and makes him seem like a bad-ass to be able to keep cool and controlled despite falling to earth from space while spinning at unknown G forces.

Just as we think this guy can do no wrong we discover that there are certain aspects of his life that he's not in control of. His relationship with his partner has taken a really bad turn and he doesn't seem that keen on repairing the situation as he's married to his work in space.

We soon realize that his work ethic was bestowed to him because of his relationship with his father. He views his father as a hero and he emulated him in many aspects. His father had disappeared into space years ago in a epic adventure to find extra terrestrial life. The thing is Roy has believed that his father had passed away years ago somewhere on Neptune.

It's a great shock to Roy when the space agency asks for his help in a top secret mission to find his father on Neptune. They believe that the cosmic waves that almost killed him in the beginning of the movie was a result of his father's old station out in Neptune.

Questions fill Roy's mind as his journey continues. He wonders why his father didn't want to come back for him and stayed in space for 30 years. Didn't he care about his wife and son back home on Earth? It's evident that his father valued his mission very much but no one knows just how dedicated he truly was to his mission.

Little by little Roy realizes how similar he really is to his father. He questions many of his life choices and starts to wonder if he should continue to be the man he is now or is there a way for him to become a better man.

A lot of these questions are the same questions that a lot of the same questions that a lot of us ask ourselves everyday. I guess the adventure that Roy goes on is a little more extreme than most of are able to pursue but that's what traveling is all about. We try to figure ourselves out. This journey that Roy goes on is way more personal because he's going to try to find his long lost father.

In many ways the character Roy seems too much like a superhero. There is the vulnerability to him when it comes to his personal life but I don't think too many people can relate to him because he's almost unnaturally stoic. Still this characteristic really makes him seem really bad-ass in a lot of scenes.

Overall, I did like this movie. The ending seems a little dragged out a little but it is a pretty slow movie overall so it doesn't seem out of place. I think people that are into dramatic movies exploring character this is a pretty interesting one. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. I enjoyed watching it once but I don't think I'd watch this movie again.