Based on the novel by Andy Weir, this film reinforces the wondrous feeling of never wanting to go to mars, to space, or even so much as LOOK at a spaceship again whatsoever.
The Martian is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Matt Damon who plays a botanist named Mark Watney. He is part of a research team on Mars. A dust storm threatens the crew and their mission, and the team has to abandon the planet. Watney gets hit by debris in the storm and gets separated from the group, who think he’s been killed. Everyone else gets aboard the rocket and leaves the planet. Only one little problem, though…. Watney isn’t dead.
Mark Watney is now stranded on Mars and has to do everything in his power to stay alive until he’s somehow rescued… by people who don’t even know that he’s alive… that are millions of miles away. The filmmakers could have handled the tone in the easy way, which is making everything dark, gloomy, and hopeless and mopey. I think that’s the route a lot of people would expect of a movie of its kind, if Gravity or Interstellar have been any influence on the common moviegoer’s perception on the space travel subgenre. The route it went, however, is much more lighthearted and hopeful.
The best decision the filmmakers could ever have made was to bring a humorous element into this rather depressing situation. The way that the director, the writers, and the actors execute the humor gives this movie a lot more hope than expected these days, and I think The Martian is so much more watchable and enjoyable because of that. What would you rather watch? Matthew Mcconaughey rambling on about some ‘deep’, ‘emotional’ speech about the meaning of life for 20 minutes, or Matt Damon explaining on a video log about how he’s technically a space pirate since Mars is unclaimed territory by any nation? Speaking of which, wasn’t Matt Damon in Interstellar? I guess this movie was his big redemption, then.
On the topic of Matt Damon, the guy was the perfect choice for lead actor. Not only is he extremely funny, but he does really well with the more intense moments. When something good happens, you feel his joy and relief. When something bad happens, you feel how badly it affects him and his chances of ever getting out of such a bleak place. I’m not going to lie; despite how much humor is in the film, there’s a good deal of nail biting scenes that will actually have you on the edge of your seat. I know that a lot of big time critics throw that phrase around quite a lot, but it's true.
Matt Damon wasn't the only great actor in the film. Everyone, and I mean everyone in the cast did phenomenally. It's a very well selected and talented cast, with Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean (who doesn't die for once) Chiwetel Ejiofor, among other, smaller names like Kate Mara. Yes, Kate Mara, the Invisible Woman from the recent atrocity that somehow got the status of 'movie' known as Fant4stic. Here's the thing, though: she does a great job alongside the other actors. It also helps that the director isn't drunk this time, and is Ridley Scott. Sure, he's had his bad movies as well, but there's no denying that he's done some amazing work in his career, most notably 1977's Alien.
In terms of character development, there isn't a single weak point to anything that I could find on my viewing of it. The relationship that the characters have amongst each other is spot on. Watney is left behind on Mars within the first 5 minutes of the movie, so his bond with his crew members isn't shown until much later. It's arguably the most important character bond in the film. The way it's pulled off works better than I ever expected it to. The characters on earth are also very well done. I'm glad to say there wasn't a single character that I didn't like.
The most important element of this science fiction movie is, of course, the science. I am no science genius myself, but I love the subject. Every aspect of science simply amazes and interests me. The don't know a lot about space travel or how to survive on another planet, but the way the characters explain the science behind their actions, their ideas, all the technical details... It made me feel smarter. I don't know if the movie explained it so well that it was easy for me to get what they were saying, or if it was just my already fairly broad understanding of science-y stuff that allowed me to comprehend every word. Either way, I loved it. I would assume that the science checks out in real life. NASA approved it, so... Probably. It looked accurate.
There's simply not much more I can say about this movie without giving much away. The story is great, the characters are great, the science-y stuff is great, the music is great, and Matt Damon being a space pirate is great. Have I used the word 'great' enough?
I honestly was unable to think of a single thing wrong with The Martian. There's nothing I didn't like! It is the best possible movie you could see in the month of October. It needs to be seen. It's fun, it makes you feel smarter, and it's just uplifting to see a movie where there's hope and laughter in such a horrible situation. The Martian is one of the best movies I've seen this year, and is without a doubt on my top 5 for 2015. There's no denying that.
FINAL RATING: 50 / 50
STORY: 5 / 5
ACTING: 5 / 5
CHARACTERS: 5 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 5 / 5
THRILLS: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 5 / 5
TONE: 5 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5
Thanks for being patient as I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to going to the theater more often from now until the end of the year, and posting more reviews in general.
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