Ridley Scott directs – his best sci-fi since “Blade Runner” (1982) – from Drew Goddard’s screenplay based on the novel by Andy Weir.
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The first is easy, thanks to his knowledge of botany and an assortment of materials that let him grow more food. In fact, being stranded on an alien planet doesn’t seem all that bad: Watney is like a kid on summer vacation, playing around with his science projects, watching reruns of Happy Days on a flat-screen monitor, and recording a goofy video log for the folks back at NASA. (Scott recently announced at least two more sequels to Prometheus, so get ready for a few more Noomi Rapace outer space shenanigans.) The Martian affords Scott a nice chance to play around in his science fiction sandbox while telling an optimistic story about humans, rather than one where they are chased by a creature with acid for blood and a taste for Harry Dean Stanton’s head.
Damon also gives the performance of a lifetime, since a good half of the movie lies exclusively on his shoulders.
Jeff Daniels is Teddy Sanders, the NASA director who has to think about the overall space program, not just one man.
Enough can’t be said about the extensive lineup of talent that opted in probably knowing their parts were minimal: Jessica Chastain as the mission’s captain and the rest of her crew played by Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Aksil Hennie. Isolated for long stretches of time, they rely on crewmates for their lives in remote, inhospitable environments. From Martian sandstorms to daring space stunts to random bouts of explosive decompression it’s a thoroughly arresting film. The film may not have the scope or sense of grandeur of recent space films, such as Interstellar, but it does boast an impressive emotional core anchored by a very fallible protagonist.
As NASA contemplates a manned voyage to Mars and the effects missions deeper into space could have on astronauts, it’s tapping research from another outfit with experience sending people to the deep: the U.S. Navy submarine force.
We feel the guilt of his fellow astronauts who left him for dead when NASA finally tells them he is alive. There’s nary a conflict between characters, as everyone is consistently on the same side and working towards the same goal.
Rated PG-13 for strong language (marooned on Mars, Mark Watney’s first word begins with “f”, but then he says, “Still, I’m alive, obviously, and I’m guessing this will come as a surprise to my crewmates”), injury images and brief nudity.
The space office has unleashed a clearing online networking and advanced battle that is propelled next to each other with the hit Ridley Scott film, “The Martian.” One can not help but beam as NASA works to bring Watney home. The film is so well made that it is nearly impossible not to enjoy the proceedings.
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The Martian is sort of the anti-Capricorn One.
