Now, the blight is just a McGuffin: an unimportant device to ignite the plot without really taking part in it, and it can be easily forgotten- like the fact that people are used as batteries in The Matrix, or the storm on Mars at the beginning of The Martian. Maybe it's also metaphorical of the plague of ignorance and anti-scientific thought. Still, it's a bit disappointing that not more thought was put into it- you can imagine Nolan putting infinite hours into getting the picture of a believable black hole, and yet the framework of the story is sloppy. (One also wonders why he didn't use climate change instead of the blight- political reasons?).
The rest of the plot is similarly sloppy: a secretive remnant of NASA is building a giant rocket without external support- and I find the idea that such endeavours can be taken in isolation, outiside of a thriving scientific and engineering environment, profoundly anti-scientific. Someone without specific training is recruited on the spot (despite not having even been contacted before). The rocket leaves from the hall of the office and building area (which might double as a silo, still the offices are directly looking into it). Once in space people happily take off and land from planets without issues of fuel and rockets. The various planets they visit on the way add nothing to the plot: they are just the "they have several adventures and difficulties" part, and could be repaced with different ones without effect. Finally the Hero sacrifices his life, gets the mysterious key to saving humanity, and is granted survival and a new hot lady waiting for him (I have a bit of doubts here as after all those passages near and within black holes, they might be living in two completely different timeframes, where 10 or 20 years are just a rounding error).
Science fiction is a tough genre, because good SF is philosophical, logical, and scientific- stuff that doesn't really appeal a large part of the population. Space travel is even harder, because its reality and glacial pace are so different from what we consider exciting. For its mechanics, 2001 has already said almost everything that could be said for the next 100 years without going into total fantasy.
Like we can get rid of Coronavirus? Escaping to space for them is a form of quarantine, or a "green zone" to escape from the "red zone" of Earth. There's no hope of disinfecting a planet.
> Somehow they also know how to get rid of the blight at least in specimens,
It's easy to disinfect small things, like a handful of seeds.
> you wonder why instead of launching giant capsules in space full of plants without the blight, they wouldn't just build giant airtight greenhouses on earth?
The implication is that they're already doing everything they can, but that the Blight will eventually leave Earth about as habitable as Mars, so at that point you may as well go somewhere else.
> They plan and build an interstellar mission all by themselves
It's mentioned several times that the staff of hundreds are NASA (logos everywhere), and that the spaceships are largely the same that Coop used to fly before the Blight. That's why they want him specifically, he's a trained pilot with previous experience.
There's also a lot of technology left, such as AIs with apparent sentience. These are common enough to be used to pilot harvesters!
> hasn't trained for at least ten years
They skipped over the simulator time, it's a movie, not a documentary. What would you rather have as a pilot: Someone who's never flown before or someone who has?
> They could just throw some in space: no suit or capsule needed- do your job and report.
The AIs may not be as good as humans.
> the rocket launches from inside the nasa office building.
It was explained that this is a launch silo, the same as the type used by ballistic missiles. This is standard stuff.
The reasoning is that they're working largely in secret, because their work is unpopular with the public.
PS: The American public being this rabidly anti-scientific is entirely plausible! cough5G conspiracy nutscough.
> Random adventures with CGI on alien planets and very human squabbles follow
They're mankind's only hope and under incredible stress. Their friend dies. They're not exactly going to go about their business like emotionless robots.
Also, drama is entertaining. This is a movie!
Adventures are also entertaining. What's wrong with adventure!?
> Then there's black hole
Which was awesome to see in a Hollywood movie.
> love silliness.
Probably the most out-there part of the movie, but so what? If they didn't put this in there, like you said, they could have just sent robots.
Look at it like this: Have you ever heard stories of lost dogs that travel a thousand miles to get back to their home? Because they love their owners and are desperate to get back, no matter the hardship? Coop is like that dog, his love for his daughter is the thing that helps him find the way home. It's sappy, but whatever.
> the hero rejoins the cute lady in dire need of company- she surely won't reject his love.
Agreed, the mandatory relationship is a trope too many.
So clearly it's a crap movie that nobody should watch.
We should stick to the sci-fi classics like Transformers.