The Martian is Apollo 13 in deep space. This is not the moon. This is Mars, so no messing around. I’ve seen this type of movie before, but it’s excellently acted and pulled off, so that doesn’t matter. The Martian, based off of the book by Andy Weir, is brought to you by Ridley Scott (if you don’t know who this is then open Google), and Drew Goddard (same). It’s about Mark Watney, an astronaut who is accidentally left on the surface of Mars. He and the NASA crew must figure out how he can survive on a planet that has no food or water. That’s a great premise really, but what keeps the film interesting is it keeps a breakneck pace, and the fact that there are interesting things resting under the surface. Andy Weir’s book (or what I read of it) is focused mainly on the science of how things might work up on Mars, and it’s really interesting to watch as Mark figures out how to survive on this planet. To be honest, it probably would have been enough to propel the film along just to see Mark surviving, but it helps to build a deeper dramatic mood as you slowly see him start to break. It’s helpful that Matt Damon plays Watney as the most sarcastic, darkly humored person on the planet he’s stuck on (of course). Drew Goddard, who wrote the script, really exploits the hilarious use of punch lines that the book used. There’s one scene in the book that focuses on what Watney might be thinking, and it plays off just as well in the film. It’s helpful that Damon is good enough of an actor to pull off the one man show that he is running...well until about a good 30 minutes in. After that, the NASA people come in, and try to find a way to save him. The NASA group is impeccably cast, and half the actors come with their backstories already there just by showing up. For example, Jeff Daniels. He’s been so good, in so many talky movies like this, for so long, that it doesn’t matter that he’s not a fleshed out character. He get’s clever things to say, and sells it so interestingly that it’s hard to notice the that fact that he’s not all that good of a character. Actually that’s how everybody in this movie works. They are spectacular actors saying clever stuff as slight characters, and that works. It doesn’t stay with you as much as it should, but it works. What also works excellently is the direction by Ridley Scott. He already proved that he could direct sci-fi, and that he is best at doing things small scale (like Alien and Blade Runner, although the staging isn’t small scale in the latter). He makes the film pop with smooth, and subdued cinematography. It’s nice to see him working on a film like this especially since his last two films, Prometheus, and Exodus: Gods and Kings, were a little too big for even Hollywood’s most excellent technical stylist (Scott, if you haven’t caught that) to handle. The Martian is a small scale film with beautiful vistas, and really works to Scott’s strengths as a director. The Martian gets a 9 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |