Mark Kermode mentioned in his review that the action scenes were done by a different director, so yeah, it definitely feels like they ruined this film trying to get normies to watch it
That's... absolutely not what was said ? He mentions second unit directors sometimes being in charge of action scenes and the debate about authorship resulting from that. He doesn't know if that's the case here, he just found the tone jarring as if two movies collided. I don't expect people to be overly familiar with Gray but he already had a slighty off kilter car chase in a film before (one that in spirit is close to what he's doing here), he's not exactly a stranger to complex, operatic, spectacular sequences in general (just watch the opening if the Lost City of Z) and he had a film shelved for over a year because he wouldn't bow to Weinstein requests of editing a new version to his liking. The whole "normie" thing is a pretty shit, lazy take.
I'm honestly not sure I see the same disconnect several people, including Joe Molotov, mentions about those sequences. They absolutely do participate in illustrating that the myth of space exploration is just that, a myth, much like Pitt's character story is that he's fronting constantly and that his father is a lot more than just being "the greatest astronaut ever". That Mankind immediately exported its misery and mediocrity into space (including nationalism, consumerism, war and crime) is an essential part of its meaning and modest final message regarding Pitt's character arc.
It is absolutely one of this director's themes that small vices spiral into greater tragedies and often into awkward, unintended violence and manslaughter. Likewise with having stories (notably mob ones, but it's also true for his romantic drama or early 20th century explorer flick) presented with a muted and mundane tone. That chase scene is obviously both spectacular within the context of that particular film but also inherently toned down by Hollywood standards because of the setting and sound design. You could say... it's subverting expectations.
In my opinion the film would actually be a lot more "full of itself" or "insufferable" and a lot less unique and distinctive without this. All that being said, I can see why some people would feel the whole film doesn't mesh well even if I don't agree.
