‘Ad Astra’ launches Brad Pitt into cerebral sci-fi realm

Add “Ad Astra” to the shrinking ranks of cerebral science fiction, a movie that explores the great mysteries against an epic interstellar backdrop. Yet the movie works as well as it does thanks largely to its human component — specifically, Brad Pitt as the intrepid, emotionally aloof astronaut who braves facing his past to try saving humanity’s future.

Tonally, the movie falls into the realm of “Contact,” with its search for alien life, and “Interstellar,” which used space travel as a means of exploring deeper issues of connection and humanity. There’s even a touch of “2001: A Space Odyssey” in the vision of Earth in “the near future,” only here, conquering space hasn’t eradicated warring over resources.

Pitt’s Roy McBride is as astronaut in good standing, even if his commitment to the craft has cost him dearly in terms of personal bonds. He’s nevertheless surprised when approached by his bosses to undertake a top-secret mission, seeking out his father (Tommy Lee Jones), who disappeared 29 years earlier, on his own quest to discover if there’s intelligent life out in the universe.

Evidence leads toward that mission, in concert with strange energy surges and an antimatter drive system. So Roy is tasked with finding dad somewhere in the vicinity of Neptune, with the very real possibility that he might need to neutralize the old man — assuming he’s still around — in order to safeguard Earth.

That plot — co-written by director James Gray with Ethan Gross — creates two inherent mysteries — namely, what happened to the original project, and did it bear fruit in terms of contacting aliens.

The film maintains a solid sense of tension, however, thanks to the perilous nature of Roy’s journey, which includes several dangerous encounters, beginning with a chase across the lunar surface.

That atmosphere is magnified by the realization that Roy’s not sure whom to trust, as multiple characters pass through his, well, orbit, played by, among others, Donald Sutherland and Ruth Negga and Liv Tyler.

Ultimately, the weight of the movie rests on Pitt, who’s in virtually every scene, and as in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” is the sort of taciturn, can-do type who tends to bury his emotions. The main difference here, at least for his fans, is that the star spends much of his time in rather unflattering space attire.

Practically speaking, “Ad Astra” (Latin, incidentally, for “to the stars”) represents a tough marketing proposition, and has the misfortune to launch as Disney is busy absorbing 20th Century Fox, the studio behind it. While there are exciting sequences — and the movie offers an intriguing view of a possible future — a whiz-bang action yarn this isn’t. (Addressing delays in the planned release, Gray amusingly described the film as “a pimple” on the butt of a $71-billion deal.)

Nevertheless, it’s a well-made, provocative movie. And in a great big universe searching for intelligent content, one would hope there’s still room for that.

“Ad Astra” premieres Sept. 20 in the US. It’s rated PG-13.