Movies
‘Castaway’ on Mars: ‘The Martian’ review
A very impressive film with a good lead and a more than adequate cast
“The movie is exceptional in terms of plot, world-building, dialog and acting. However, it suffers from the occasionally draggy pacing and lack of conflict, which doesn’t necessarily take away much from the movie experience.” ★★★★☆ — By Janin Volante
“I’m not dead. Obviously.”
Those are some of the first few words uttered by astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) when he wakes up stranded on Mars, injured and making a video log he can’t send to NASA.
The Martian is the story of Watney and his struggle to survive in an alien and hostile environment after he gets left behind by his crew on a manned mission to the Red Planet. Adapted from Andy Weir’s bestselling novel of the same name, the movie shows how human ingenuity and loyalty can overcome even the direst circumstance.
The movie is exceptional in terms of plot, world-building, dialog and acting. However, it suffers from the occasionally draggy pacing and lack of conflict, which doesn’t necessarily take away much from the movie experience.
Watney is part of Ares 3, an exploratory manned mission to Mars led by Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) and four other astronauts. On Sol 6 of the mission (a sol is one Martian day), after they landed and started taking samples, an extremely strong dust storm hits the mission’s camp, constraining them to evacuate. During the commotion, Watney is blown out of sight and the readout for his vital signs completely goes out. The crew could not locate him and in the impending danger of the cyclone, are forced to board the Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) without him, thinking he was dead.
Mark wakes up, cringes in pain and performs first aid on his torso impaled by a flying antenna. From there he tries to think of a way to survive the planet up until the next Ares mission or until NASA realizes he’s not dead and sends a rescue. Both of those scenarios are still years away and the resources and rations that he has are not enough.
What he does is farm potatoes inside the artificial habitat using his and the entire crew’s manure as fertilizer. It would figure, since Watney is a botanist and he concluded that the only way to survive is to “science the sh*t out of this.”
I won’t delve too much into the details for the spoiler-conscious, but NASA gathers from satellite images that there is still movement on the ground at Mars and infers that Watney is alive. They find a way to communicate and what follows is technical dialog, infused with snark, and very witty references.
Matt Damon gives a stellar performance as the wisecracking but quite resourceful botanist/astronaut. From Weir’s novel you can definitely feel the self-deprecating narrative rise from the pages and Damon portrays that very well. He will really have you rooting for Watney’s rescue (the same way he did in the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan).
Now, anyone can tell where the story is going in these types of films. We all know that Mark is going to be rescued despite all odds, but what’s great is that knowledge of that fact never diminishes the emotional investment we have to the tale the filmmakers are trying to tell and to Watney’s plight. That right there is good storytelling.
Another thing that I really liked about the film is its technicality, its science and pseudoscience. It really showed how technological ingenuity can go a long way. The Martian showed the inner workings of space programs and manned missions.
It showed the mechanics of how to farm in space, how to set up a crude communication system and even how to avoid blowing yourself up in an artificial habitat. People who like science and geeking out about it will definitely enjoy this film.
The only flaw I think the film had is that it stretched out the “bring him home” plot for too long. The main premise is very straightforward, the only problem is how to go from there. But it took a while for the NASA officials to bring forth a solution. This resulted in some parts, especially the scenes set on Earth, to be a bit draggy and boring.
Aside from that, however, The Martian is a very impressive film with a good lead and a more than adequate cast. It’s not as heavy as the other pieces in the same genre and takes a more technical perspective.
I recommend it for the science buff and the regular moviegoer alike. It’s a fun ride that will have you hyped up long after leaving the theater. ■ ■ AH Online / The Culture Review
Watch the trailer here:
(Editor’s Note: This review was first published in Veritatem Magazine, Issue 1 on November 2015)
