Brad Pitt stars as Maj. Roy McBride in the space adventure “Ad Astra.” (photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

Daddy issues can make a father and son feel a world apart. How about multiple worlds removed? That’s how far family drama travels in “Ad Astra,” Brad Pitt’s attempt at an artistic return to science fiction. Call it Terrence Malick in space or Tarkovsky lite. Director James Gray’s (“We Own the Night,” “The Lost City of Z”) maiden voyage into science fiction is hardly a disaster, mostly quite watchable actually, but it hardly sails into the ranks of the genre’s betters. Blame that failure on those overt Freudian bits that subdue something more compelling drowning beneath the surface.

Astronaut H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) is a legend who inspired an entire generation to reach for infinity and beyond. His team, the Lima Project tasked with searching for signs of life out there, reached Neptune before going dark 16 years ago. Now, his son Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) carries on the family legacy, continually joining space expeditions to the impairment of his own life. He doesn’t see the point of having kids considering his line of work (cue daddy issues round 1).

Then something happens. Roy’s dad might be alive. His radio silence and team’s findings remain a mystery that U.S. Space Command must investigate. To this goal, they need Roy on Mars to send a communique into the great unknown, hoping to pinpoint Earth’s greatest hero. A simple enough mission, but passage to the red planet includes many obstacles, ranging from environmental to hostile forces to humanity’s predictable hubris backfiring. Often isolated throughout this star trek, Roy only has a conflicted internal monologue to fill his down time.

The physics and politics of “Ad Astra” superbly span a great many lightyears. Colonies on the moon and Mars, experiments gone awry in research vessels, even space pirates ravaging for finite resources. While ships look rather familiar, the visual design of space stations and planet colonies fall somewhere between “The Martian” and “2001: A Space Odyssey,” never quite dwelling on the spectacle of space travel.

The rules of gravity across various planets and in space still apply, notably employed during a moon-based chase scene, one of the five thrilling moments peppered throughout the film. “Ad Astra” is never entirely dull, but the excitement is a red herring that diverts attention from the greater questions surrounding what will come of humanity.

Maj. Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is sent to Mars in “Ad Astra.” (photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

This isn’t a utopian future boldly going where no one has gone before. All that earthly baggage – nationalism, paranoia, fear – hitchhike across the known galaxy. Meanwhile, the eternal question – “Are we alone?” – looms behind all of humankind’s achievements in this not-too-distant future. The first half of “Ad Astra” is almost entirely exploratory, addressing all these topics in the setting.

Roy serves as a bystander who accepts everything around him by degrees. But that whispering voice in his head, like a Malick character unable to ascend past trauma, only cares about dad. Aesthetically, it’s a splendid choice that adds a few poetic notes to the experience. But the actual dialogue amplifies what best belongs between the lines.

A film like this relies on an ending that pays off. The mystery’s final reveal must answer some, if not all, questions or pose equally engaging new ones. A happy ending or action-packed finale isn’t the goal, but something consequential must occur. “Ad Astra” likely worked in the pitch phase, checking all the appropriate boxes with relevant, timely revelations.

Alas, that allegedly deep point comes at the expense of, well, logic. Sure, the power of melodrama allows spectators to overlook glaring flows (i.e., how effectively “The Dark Knight’s” presents lying to Gotham’s citizens as the right choice), but this one pushes things too far.

Once Roy reaches his final destination (and how he gets there, for that matter), what transpires presents little new information. Perhaps the point is dissatisfaction, but such a gamble doesn’t work in a film battling accusations of being slow and, perhaps, boring. And Roy’s final lesson learned is overly melodramatic, both too sentimental and self-important.

The third act doesn’t quite ruin the mostly mesmerizing cinematic experience – a story that passionately establishes a believable prediction of humanity’s next great chapter – but it serves more as a cautionary tale. Even though “Ad Astra” embarks on a journey riddled with wonders once reserved for gods, the mortal hands at the helm can’t land a galactic or emotional story to match the awe.