After Body of Lies, Prometheus and Exodus: Gods and Kings, it’s good to see Ridley Scott get back some of his lost form in The Martian. Matt Damon is perfect as astro-botanist Mark Watney who is left for dead on Mars when his crew makes an emergency evacuation from the Red Planet. On Earth, the chief of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reads out a homily and America mourns. It turns out that Watney is alive, but has no way of communicating this fact.
What follows is a story of survival. Watney is undeterred by the prospect of trying to live on Mars for four years until the next NASA mission with limited rations, no contact with another human being and harsh conditions. Rather than being bogged down by the problem, he systematically focuses on finding a solution. This includes growing potatoes in excrement, mapping a path for the upcoming mission, and recording a daily log of his activities and state of mind in the space habitat.
Apart from being an account of survival and mental strength, The Martian is the story of the rescue efforts mounted by NASA to bring home an astronaut they suddenly discover is alive and alone 140 million miles away. The supporting cast comprises heavyweights such as Jessica Chastain (mission commander), Jeff Daniels (NASA chief), Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sean Bean as NASA officials spearheading Watney’s rescue. The drama accelerates once the rescue mission – complete with rebellion and a sense of anarchy -- actually takes off.
Ridley Scott and co-screenwriter Drew Goddard plug in plenty of Hollywood-isms to craft a crowd-pleaser based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, including references to the Lord of the Rings and Iron Man movies, a 1970s disco soundtrack (including good use of ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Starman’) and cheeky one-liners such as “In your face, Neil Armstrong”. The screenplay balances drama, humour, pathos and optimism and is impressively filmed by Dariusz Wolski and designed by Arthur Max.
As visually delightful as it is, The Martian is no Gravity. It takes few chances and only gently nudges the boundaries. Watney is portrayed as a bit of a super-botanist, super-scientist, and super-astronaut. You rarely wonder at the outcome – will he or won’t he be rescued - because in this world, 500 additional days of space-time is treated like a transatlantic flight.
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What follows is a story of survival. Watney is undeterred by the prospect of trying to live on Mars for four years until the next NASA mission with limited rations, no contact with another human being and harsh conditions. Rather than being bogged down by the problem, he systematically focuses on finding a solution. This includes growing potatoes in excrement, mapping a path for the upcoming mission, and recording a daily log of his activities and state of mind in the space habitat.
Apart from being an account of survival and mental strength, The Martian is the story of the rescue efforts mounted by NASA to bring home an astronaut they suddenly discover is alive and alone 140 million miles away. The supporting cast comprises heavyweights such as Jessica Chastain (mission commander), Jeff Daniels (NASA chief), Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sean Bean as NASA officials spearheading Watney’s rescue. The drama accelerates once the rescue mission – complete with rebellion and a sense of anarchy -- actually takes off.
Ridley Scott and co-screenwriter Drew Goddard plug in plenty of Hollywood-isms to craft a crowd-pleaser based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, including references to the Lord of the Rings and Iron Man movies, a 1970s disco soundtrack (including good use of ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Starman’) and cheeky one-liners such as “In your face, Neil Armstrong”. The screenplay balances drama, humour, pathos and optimism and is impressively filmed by Dariusz Wolski and designed by Arthur Max.
As visually delightful as it is, The Martian is no Gravity. It takes few chances and only gently nudges the boundaries. Watney is portrayed as a bit of a super-botanist, super-scientist, and super-astronaut. You rarely wonder at the outcome – will he or won’t he be rescued - because in this world, 500 additional days of space-time is treated like a transatlantic flight.