THE MARTIAN

The Martian

Grade: B+

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Benedict Wong, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie; also featuring Mackenzie Davis and Donald Glover

Premise: Stranded after a terrible storm, a lone member of the first manned mission to Mars struggles to survive on the planet’s airless, waterless, non-living surface. Meanwhile, NASA, Mission Control, and his surviving crewmates in space try to devise a way to rescue him before he runs out of food.

Rated PG-13 for language, intense scenes of peril and suspense, and some bloody/disturbing images

In 2013, audiences were wowed by Sandra Bullock’s desperate struggle for survival on the fringes of Earth’s atmosphere in Alfonso Cuaron’s taut, terrifying Gravity. Last year, audiences tried to hold back tears as Matthew McConaughey searched for a new home for the human race amongst the stars, even if it meant leaving his beloved daughter behind, in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Gravity, which had exactly two characters whose faces were ever shown onscreen and took place largely in real time, was 90 minutes long, won 7 Academy Awards, and earned $274 million at the box office in the U.S. alone. Interstellar, which was 169 minutes long and had a plot that spanned nearly 80 years, won 1 Academy Award and grossed $187 million in the U.S.

So, space movies that are more than mere “space adventures” like Star Wars or Star Trek have become a new regular pastime, thanks largely to the advances in CGI and other special effects. This weekend’s new film, The Martian, is the first “big space film” of recent years that isn’t an original work. Based on a best-selling novel by Andy Weir, this Ridley Scott-directed film follows capably in the footsteps of those intergalactic predecessors, but it may, ultimately, prove the most audience-pleasing. Lacking the white-knuckle intensity of Gravity and the slightly overblown “epicness” of Interstellar, The Martian is a well-paced, well-thought out, accessible film that has its astonishing visuals and its moments of pathos but is, ultimately, a solid, well-rounded motion picture that should please audiences.

Plot

Just days after becoming the first humans to set foot on Mars, the highly-trained crew of the research mission Ares III is forced to evacuate when a stronger-than-expected storm descends on their base camp. Rather than risk having their shuttle knocked over by the high winds, stranding them on the planet with no way to return home, they abort. However, during the hurry to the shuttle, one of the team members, botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is struck by debris and nearly buried in sand. With limited visibility and the information that Watney’s vitals have ceased, the remaining crew, running out of time, make the crushing decision to leave him and begin their journey back to earth. Back on Earth, the Director of NASA (Jeff Daniels), the head of Mars Missions (Chiwetel Ejiofor, of 12 Years A Slave) and the Ares III crew director (Sean Bean) debate how soon to send another mission. They wonder if one of the key objectives of a new mission should be to retrieve the body of the astronaut for whom they have had a full, decorated funeral.

However, Watney isn’t dead. He awakes in pain, half-buried and alone, but he manages to get back inside the base structure, treat his wounds, and consider his situation. He is alone with no means of contacting anyone (the communications disk torn asunder is the very item that hit him during the evacuation), and, worse, he has limited food and water. He can survive several months, maybe a year if he rations. He’s on Mars, a planet millions of miles from Earth where nothing grows and there is no water. A botanist, he begins to use canvas tarps and energy from the base’s solar panels to fashion his own greenhouse, and he tries to make himself at home, using the video log recorder to record his daily activities and give himself a reason to talk out loud. On Earth, a NASA specialist (Mackenzie Davis), viewing satellite images from the planet’s surface, notices objects from the base camp have been moved, re-positioned, cleaned. It slowly becomes clear to NASA that Mark Watney must be alive. Debates arise. Is there a way to contact him? What do they have to tell him even if they do contact him? Should they tell his surviving crewmates, who are on their nearly year-long return journey, believing him dead? Should they hurry another mission, potentially cutting corners and endangering others’ lives, to try to get to him before he dies of starvation? Watney, who knows he has limited time, begins searching for his own answers.

What Works?

As was evidenced by its intriguing trailers, The Martian has a killer premise that could scarcely be uninteresting even if it tried. It’s also much brisker and more procedural than, say, Interstellar—it takes great pains to explain ways that Watney tries to grow food, has to charge his land rover, how NASA has to make an emergency shuttle lighter to try and get to him. Yet it also has plenty of time with Watney mulling things over, talking and even laughing to himself about his situation, and it features plenty of scenic shots that drive home the concept of his being so utterly alone—millions of miles from the nearest known living things.

I’d be willing to argue that Matt Damon was the perfect actor for the role of Mark Watney. Clean-cut and All-American, usually with a little smile at the corners of his mouth, he’s always been a likable, , accessible presence, which is big here when he spends the vast majority of his screen time alone, in unfamiliar surroundings, just going through daily tasks and talking to himself. Roles like the super agent in the Bourne series and his surprise cameo in Interstellar make him easy to believe as an astronaut, and we’ve seen him in brainy roles before (Good Will Hunting, the Ocean’s series), so we can accept that he’s an enterprising, genius botanist as well. And he’s no less easy to watch, and root for, even once a great deal of time has passed and he’s thinned out, grown a scraggly beard, and developed a weary, somewhat haunted look in his eyes.

After the film lays the groundwork, though, there are significant passages where Watney is not onscreen and Damon’s large, diverse supporting cast has to pick up the slack. Since the movie is more a procedural, most of the actors are playing roles without back-story and with a lot of plot-driven, technobabble dialogue. They make it work, though. Standouts include Jessica Chastain (an Interstellar co-star of Damon’s), Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, and Donald Glover.

Will The Martian be a big awards play? As was the case with Everest, the movie I saw and reviewed last week, it’s technically impeccable (it’s difficult to imagine how they put together and filmed this movie)—it looks great whether it’s on Mars, in space, or inside the shuttle with the crew members. It could well be in the running for technical awards like visual effects, editing, and sound mixing. Plus it's well-written and, despite a lot of space terminology, easy enough to follow. Overall, it’s a very impressive achievement.

What Doesn’t Work?

As entertained as I was by The Martian and as much as I enjoyed it, I didn’t find myself blown away. Two years ago, I was blown away after I saw Gravity. This movie didn’t quite have that effect on me. I think it’s because the movie is so generally riveting the whole time, it just isn’t able to conjure a moment or two of real, amazing movie magic that’s noticeably above and beyond its general pulse. It is very interesting and engaging and the last half-hour will have you on the edge of your seat, but no scenes quite took it to the point of greatness. For comparison’s sake, The Martian is exciting but, as a procedural, lacks the relatable emotional underpinnings of Interstellar (with almost no back-story for any characters, you don’t get quite as invested) or the high-pitched, feverish intensity of Gravity (there is a moment with two astronauts clinging to a tether, spinning in space, that is highly reminiscent of Cuaron’s film, but, here, you’re almost certain they’ll make it, whereas in Gravity, you had no idea and felt like you were hoping against reason). The movie also skips a great deal of time right at its conclusion, skipping several big, key scenes I thought would have been very important to the humanization of the main character as he adjusts to life back on Earth, amongst people.

Content

The Martian is the rare PG-13 film that gets away with two F-words, plus it has plenty of other swears. There’s no nudity or sexual content, no alien gore or anything (Red Planet, this isn’t), but the entire movie is pretty intense, and there are moments when the main character’s chance of survival seems pretty slim. There are at least one or two big shocks, and an early scene of Mark Watney tending to his wounds will have squeamish audience members covering their eyes.

Bottom Line

I liked The Martian. A lot. For the most part, I’m not disappointed. It’s a very, very good film in my opinion. Great? Not quite. But if you’ve seen the trailers, you know how intriguing the premise is, and the movie comes up with plenty of ingenious ways to keep things interesting and to keep you involved, even with plenty of technobabble dialogue. The always-likeable Matt Damon anchors a sprawling cast of recognizable actors, there are some gorgeous visuals and some heart-stopping, Gravity-style space action scenes. It’s a well-rounded film that will easily entertain you.

The Martian (2015)

Directed by Ridley Scott

Screenplay by Drew Goddard

Based on the novel by Andy Weir

Rated PG-13

Length: 141 minutes