AD ASTRA & JOKER

AD ASTRA AND JOKER DOUBLE-REVIEW

Yup, that’s right! A two-for-one, soon to be followed up with a review of Robert Eggers’s The Lighthouse later today! So sit back, grab a snack and drink, and enjoy my mini reviews for Ad Astra and Joker!

AD ASTRA

Directed by James Gray and starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Liv Tyler, Ad Astra tells the story of astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt), whose father Clifford (Jones) traversed into deep space years ago and hasn’t returned since. But now, strange pules are emitting throughout the universe, with NASA theorizing that it might be the results of Clifford’s experiments, so Roy is sent on a journey across the universe to find his father.

Ever since 2013’s Gravity, we’ve been getting an annual Oscar-season movie about space travel, the best of the bunch being The Martian, with the lowest of the pack being Interstellar (note: this is not me saying that Interstellar is a bad film, just that it takes a few missteps that keep it from being truly great). I’d say that Ad Astra falls somewhere in the middle leaning towards the Interstellar side of the spectrum. Yeah, I was not too taken with this one, guys. Not that I don’t think it’s a good film; it is, but much like what I said with Interstellar, it too takes a few missteps that keep it from being truly great.

The first of these missteps is the decision to have voiceover from Roy. Now, I’m not against voiceover in films, but when it’s used to explain things that the audience can already infer, then it just feels gratuitous. It’s that old adage of filmmaking: show, don’t tell. And there are times in Ad Astra when the voiceover is just belaboring points and overexplaining emotions that could have been more impactful if we didn’t hear Brad Pitt’s inner monologue bludgeoning us over the head with them. It all feels like the new overlords of Fox – i.e. Disney – did not have enough faith in the audience to grasp the emotions clearly being displayed onscreen.

Speaking of not having enough faith in the audience, the ending is a little too happy for what I felt this story was building up to. Again, it feels like Disney didn’t want audiences to walk out of the theater feeling too bad, so they felt the need to tack on this ending that only somewhat works. There are a few supporting characters who get introduced and then just outright disappear from the movie, but that’s not a total knock seeing as this is mainly Brad Pitt’s story.

The film is not a total wash, though. It’s appropriately atmospheric, all the actors show up to work, Max Richter’s score is subtle and atmospheric, and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema  brings all of his chops from Interstellar and puts them to good work here.

So, overall, a good movie, but kinda disappointing.

JOKER

From director Todd Phillips comes the long-awaited origin story for the top villain in Batman’s rogues’ gallery: the Joker. Set in a 1980s Gotham City, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a down-on-his-luck clown for hire who lives with his ailing mother and dreams of being a standup comedian. But when one bad day culminates with him murdering three Wall Street yuppies who are harassing him on a subway train, Arthur begins down a path of insanity and madness that will lead to him becoming the Clown Prince of Crime!

I…honestly don’t know how to feel about this movie. Because there are times when this movie really nails down an alternate take on the Joker. The best moment for me probably would be the one after Arthur kills the Wall Street dudes and dances in a public bathroom. Despite that it comes across as extremely pretentious to me, the score by Icelandic composer Hildur Guonadottir, cinematography by Phillips standby Lawrence Sher, and standout performance from Joaquin Phoenix – who is VERY good in this - really do help to make it a viscerally unsettling moment. And for me, moments like these are what make the movie stand out.

But when it tries to grandstand about mental health, society (something which we apparently live in, big shock), and all that stuff, the film kind of falls a little flat for me, because it’s trying to make all these big important points, but doesn’t really know which point it wants to stick with. Also, there are moments where the film gets a little petulant about whatever point it’s trying to make. Probably the most eye-rolling one for me is when Arthur appears on Murray Franklin’s (Robert de Niro) talk show, makes an inappropriate joke, then an older guest on the show has a heart attack about it and says “you can’t make jokes about that”. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised given that director Todd Phillips is convinced that “woke culture” killed comedy, but that doesn’t make it any less grating.

So, at the end of the day, Joker isn’t really what I’d call a great film – at least, not the great film it was hyped up to be – but I am glad that it’s making a profit because maybe it’ll force Hollywood to start taking more chances in the comic book movie genre.

Well, that’s all I gotta say for those two movies! Agree? Disagree? Lemme know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow my blog, check out my Twitter page, and my Facebook page! Thanks for reading and I will see you all real soon!