No. 90. (2019) Ad Astra. October 13th.

Film No. 90 (2019) October 13th.  12:45 PM PALACE CINEMAS Kino, Collins St. Melb.

                        

"He was a hero. He gave his life in the pursuit of knowledge" (Roy responds to a question relating to the legacy that remained of his father's deeds).

Another intergalactic indulgence right up there with Interstellar and Gravity, but this time with old fashioned mystery and a hero only Brad Pitt could bring to life with legitimacy. 

Pitt plays Roy McBride, an astronaut with a distinguished career who is currently in command of a unit working from a structure rising from earth into the stratosphere. (Jack and the Beanstalk was before it's time!). The opening scenes are stunning. Atmospheric power surges are killing hundreds of people and threatening intergalactic progress. Evidence is uncovered; McBride's father H.Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones), a legendary space hero (thought lost 16 years earlier) is operating a rogue vessel off Neptune and initiating the surges. Roy is sent on a billion mile trek to uncover the mystery and save earth, so to speak.

It all sounds simplistic, and it is, but the power of the images and the atmospheric sound track along with Pitt's film star poise, propel Ad Astra into a stratosphere of its own.  9GUMS.