The Quartermaster

Ad Astra movie, or For the Stars, is a vehicle for Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler and Donald Sutherland to show their acting chops among the Infinite, find alien life, save Earthlings, and conquer the broken man-boy-Daddy barriers of Time as they travel out toward the Stars. Beyond Neptune. The CGI and photography are awesome, but the plot sucks and character development and acting wooden. OK, for openers, Roy (Pitt) is in Earth orbit on the Space Station, when a robot arm breaks berserk, falls (in zero gravity), knocks his space suited self off the station, he falls toward Earth ( it would not happen that way), parachutes to Earth in his suit. Lands OK. Is preceded by Daddy-o (Sutherland), a famous space explorer out near the planet Neptune, who is hurling deadly blasts of energy toward Earth 2.7 billion miles away, and killing 43000 Earthlings so far. Some kind of aiming! Roy Pitt is chosen to go solve the dilemma. So far, unlikely in the extreme. Just the beginning of the do-do shrinkable plot lines. Next, the voyage is labeled Top Secret. Huh? All Earth knows! That's why he is going! These Screenwriters must be Downs Boys. Next, they blast off for the Moon, then on to Mars. Why the stopover? Well, maybe to pay some costs by the advertisers of Applebee's, Subway, et al on the Moon Mall. The Plot darkens on the Dark Side Of The Moon (sorry, no Pink Floyd music nor references thereto) but you do get moon rovers with rubber tires and a gratuitous chase scene by Moon Pirates of unknown desires and laser gunfire that ends with Pitt's rover hurtling off the craters edge to somehow land in the dark part of the crater and not only survive but end in the 2nd rocket. More Downs plot parts. Blast off again. Ya, the CGI and photography is terrific. Wonderful shots of space and stars and craters. Next stupid plot maydays the rocket captain to a Norwegian freighter rendezvous to build in some drama which turns out to be a dead crew (WHY) of unknown cause although the cargo is some ferocious homicidal baboons or gorillas bent on more gore which backfires into more gorill-y. Upon Mars approach Rocket Man Captain freezes so Pitt takes over and lands spot-on. On Mars, Pitt is denied further exploration, unfit mentally. Oh, sure, after all this he is unfit? Of 115 humans on Mars, underground-safe from the radiation, a single lady of color alone offers him a ride in a Mars Rover to a manhole leading to underground water-filled tunnel he can swim (Mars water is very dirty) to the rocket hatch and board just as the flames blast away. The crew decides to battle Pitt, who of course wins even though they have guns in a space rocket. They die. He soldiers on. 79 days to Neptune to finally find his pap is indeed alive, but has concluded there are no aliens as he was supposed to discover, doesn't want to be rescued, especially not by his son, but capitulates to don a space suit, but out in the cold dark reality of space decides on a space tussle with son Pitt Roy then unbuckles the unresolved angst of father-son tether and floats off toward Neptune, which by the way appears more like Uranus. References? Roy then with little segue and like timeline is landing on a remote part of Earth whereupon is greeted and hauled out by several handymen. The viewer never develops any strong feelings for Roy nor any other characters. And the mental plot twists detract rather than enhance. The complete lack of understanding of science and physics is so unnecessary. 2 hours of emotionally and mentally uncomfortable for this viewer. Glad the cost was only $5 for me and the 10 others in the theater. Off for a meal. And a drink.