I don’t usually review movies, but “The Martian” isn’t most movies. His survival is a source of pride, not shame. Like Jason Bourne or even Max in Elysium, Damon makes Watney a hero worth rooting for.
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Damon’s comments, which many deemed off base and patronizing, immediately sparked criticism, with the hashtag #Damonsplaining taking off on Twitter. NASA says they can do it in the 2030s, and I have no doubt that they could if they had the funding, but I’d be surprised if Congress gave them enough funding.
Scientific accuracy runs in the blood of the novel’s author, Andy Weir, who was the child of a particle physicist and an electrical engineer. On the Hermes, there’s mission commander Melissa (Jessica Chastain, bringing the same stoicism she brought to Zero Dark Thirty), wise-cracking pilot Rick (Michael Pena) and Beth (Kate Mara) as a computer scientist. Flight Director Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean), however, thinks it’s worth a shot – he goes rogue and informs the Hermes crew of the risky maneuver.
NASA hosted a day for the press to take a look behind the scenes at the Johnson Space Center, in preparation for the 20th Century Fox upcoming film, The Martian.
The gravity of Watney’s isolation is underlined by impeccable cinematography of Dariusz Wolski (“The Counselor”, “Prometheus“, “Exodus: Gods and Kings”), which revels in the expanse of the theater screen the way “Lawrence of Arabia” did in 1962.
What kind of research went into writing The Martian?
“But we’re going to try and do our best”.
There’s a sense that Scott’s revelling in the simplicity of Weir’s yarn. That’s not to say “The Martian” is a comedy; these laughs are more a valve to relieve the insane suspense Scott builds over the course of Watney’s journey.
Indeed, it’s exciting to see how good Scott still is as a visual storyteller when he has a strong foundation beneath him.
NASA limits its astronauts to between.8 and 1.2 sieverts of lifetime radiation exposure, which would raise the lifetime risk of cancer by 3 percent. But Watney manages more than growing crops on Mars (which, he eventually learns, officially means he colonized the planet).
Just as he is not immune to the aging process, Damon is capable of making missteps – as he demonstrated in mid-September when remarks he made on the HBO reality series “Project Greenlight” touching on the sensitive issue of diversity in the film industry blew up in his face. Both Stan and Davis have small supporting roles in the film, so the audience didn’t get a real grasp on maybe what Damon or Chastain’s experiences were.
Finally. a live link with the worldwide space station, where the actors had a conversation with two Americans in space, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren, occurred at Mission Control.
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Matt Damon’s new movie The Martian is set for theatrical release at the start of October.
