There's obviously a lot of talent here, and a lot of effort. It can't make up for a thin plot. You know you're in trouble when the music is crescendo-ing and you don't know why.
The accuracy of the depiction of space is a mixed bag. It's clear that they put some thought into it, just not enough. For example, the lack of sound in the exterior shots contrasted with sound heard when conducted through bulkheads or through the ground was well done in many places. On the other hand, it looked like the spacecraft spent a lot of time accelerating through space, yet inside the astronauts remained weightless, which would not be the case. There are similar lapses in thinkingthrough the use of technology (and physical law) throughout the film.
The plot, takes us through a tremendous amount of effort to examine a father and son relationship. Oh yes, and save the planet. The setup for requiring the Brad Pitt character to go to Mars makes no sense. Sending a manned mission to destroy the offending experiment orbiting Neptune makes no sense. We are very good these days at blowing things up from a distance. In the future depicted in the film, we would be much better at it. And then, in between Mars and Neptune. . . . baboons? Really?
I suppose you can take the whole thing metaphorically. Then, you don't have to care about accuracy. You don't have to care about characters who are deemed psychologically fit when they are clearly not.
Or perhaps, the writing is simply not very good.
The accuracy of the depiction of space is a mixed bag. It's clear that they put some thought into it, just not enough. For example, the lack of sound in the exterior shots contrasted with sound heard when conducted through bulkheads or through the ground was well done in many places. On the other hand, it looked like the spacecraft spent a lot of time accelerating through space, yet inside the astronauts remained weightless, which would not be the case. There are similar lapses in thinkingthrough the use of technology (and physical law) throughout the film.
The plot, takes us through a tremendous amount of effort to examine a father and son relationship. Oh yes, and save the planet. The setup for requiring the Brad Pitt character to go to Mars makes no sense. Sending a manned mission to destroy the offending experiment orbiting Neptune makes no sense. We are very good these days at blowing things up from a distance. In the future depicted in the film, we would be much better at it. And then, in between Mars and Neptune. . . . baboons? Really?
I suppose you can take the whole thing metaphorically. Then, you don't have to care about accuracy. You don't have to care about characters who are deemed psychologically fit when they are clearly not.
Or perhaps, the writing is simply not very good.