A selfish story about selfishness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 30, 2021

Nary an emotive wince did Ad Astra wring from me with its tale of paternal woes writ interplanetary. Not a tear was jerked -- they all froze in their ducts like ice.

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

It certainly has something to say. I just wish it hadn't said it so very loudly.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2021

Given the effectiveness of Gray's more genre-y moments ,his insistence on paring his stories down to a kind of quietly masculine anguish feels perverse.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Feb 5, 2021

It's awfully cautious and plodding, regularly amplifying the wonder and the mystery, but letting down with its revelations.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 7, 2020

The equivalent of a painter completing their masterpiece by punching a fist through it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Nov 16, 2020

This should feel like a thrill ride IN SPACE, not like an actual 3-day trip to the moon where you wish the pulmonary embolisms developing in your legs would kill you.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 16, 2020

One of the difficulties is that Ad Astra is a space movie with a fundamental lack of interest in what's out there, in the form of intelligent life or otherwise.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2020

It seems unusual to me that the narrative of the space odyssey ends with a hopelessly conventional and unsurprising solution. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 28, 2020

What could have been a great sci-fi movie was bogged down with dialogue and no real story. It is extremely boring and not worth a watch. Skip this one.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jan 31, 2020

Stunning filmmaking. But a story that is overly dependent on emotional beats that fall flat, knocks it down a few pegs.

Full Review | Original Score: Half Price | Jan 10, 2020

For a movie that goes from here to Neptune and back, Ad Astra's overall story doesn't really go anywhere for me.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 8, 2019

As a James Gray fan, I'm disappointed, not just in him but in the alarmingly enthusiastic reception this hot air balloon has received.

Full Review | Oct 17, 2019

The movie definitely has a point of view, but it's not very enlightening, pretty bleak and in the end even a little trite.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 2, 2019

Ad Astra has a glorious surface when viewed from a distance. Look at the details in closer proximity, though, and there are many unresolved conflicts in a story that doesn't necessarily have so much to recommend it.

Full Review | Oct 2, 2019

While richly imagines practical and interpersonal aspects of settlement on the moon and beyond, the insights on human nature are on the simplistic level of pop psychology.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Sep 28, 2019

There are a few compelling moments in this science-fiction drama, which is set in the not too distant future. Overall; however, it doesn't break out of the traditional narrative confines of other adventures in outer space.

Full Review | Sep 27, 2019

The film tries to tackle the dark side of human ambition but fails short of landing any impact.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Sep 27, 2019

Despite an Academy Award caliber performance by Brad Pitt, Ad Astra soars as a psychology case study more than the heartfelt, sci-fi drama it wants to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 25, 2019

Pretentious and ponderous, this movie drove me to distraction. Yes, Brad Pitt gives it his all but his monotonous voiceover adds to the boredom the film exudes. Looks great but it is a pretty picture with no heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Sep 24, 2019