Ridley Scott hasn’t exactly been crushing it lately. The once masterful helmer of the groundbreaking sci-fi classics “Alien” and “Blade Runner” has underwhelmed recently with curious but emotionally vacant films like “The Counselor” and “Exodus: Gods and Kings.” So it’s a relief and even a grand cause for celebration that “The Martian” doesn’t just feel like a great technical return to form for Scott but it’s quite possibly his most fun and relaxed film to date.
The film begins on Mars as a manned mission of scientists gets caught up in a great wind storm where they are forced to evacuate leaving behind astronaut/botanist Mark Whatney (Matt Damon). Whatney having been hit by a satellite dish during the storm and losing communication with his crew is presumed dead and wakes up alone some time later to the realization that he’s been completely abandoned. All alone and with few supplies at his disposal Whatney must use his wits and perseverance to keep himself alive. And on Mars keeping oneself alive just over the course of a few days can be a great challenge which Whatney learns all too well.
Based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, “The Martian” takes a familiar premise and spins it in fresh directions with surprisingly nimble execution shying away from dire circumstance and inviting some great humor into the proceedings. As Whatney problem solves various situations whether it be finding ways to conjure water in order to grow potatoes in his tent or troubleshooting a 90s era satellite dish to signal earth, the film plays more as situational comedy. Far removed from say the morose tone of Robert Zemickis’s “Cast Away” which employed a similar premise, “The Martian” succeeds in illuminating Whatney’s character through the details of his experiments and vlog musings (which becomes a clever way of transferring Whatney’s interior dialogues from the book to cinematic audience clarity).
The narrative structure assembled is sound but Scott’s real ace in the hole is the casting of Damon who infuses his own brainy everyman charisma into the part of Whatney most assuredly. Damon’s star appeal has always been his relatability which works great in the vlog segments where Whatney’s wry commentary on the inhabitability of Mars, incompetence of NASA, and his severe distaste in the abundance of disco music left behind by his team captain scores numerous punchlines. Damon also handles the urgency of dramatic beats well and is backed by a formidable supporting cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dr Vince Kapoor heading Mars Missions, Jeff Daniels as head of NASA Teddy Sanders, and Jessica Chastain as Whatney’s captain Melissa Lewis whose own steely resolve to go back and get him becomes more pressing towards the denouement.
Ridley Scott films, no matter the quality or subject matter, always look great and “The Martian” is certainly no exception. The red sandy vistas of Mars were actually shot in a red desert in Jordan which look beautifully eery as Whatney’s backdrop of isolation. The striking space suits and props, along with everything as mundane as Whatney’s potato garden, were actually constructed for the film forgoing much use for CGI which feels appropriate for the grass roots story and subject matter. And a number of visual inklings and homages of Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” are also on display which are a nice treat for the cinephiles amongst us.
As superb as the scenes are with Whatney on Mars the film can’t quite maintain the same level of interest with the earthbound NASA scenes. Most of them are consisting of droves of scientists and technicians trying to get him help and then orchestrating an attempted mission to save him. Meetings are held and management disagree about whether it’s more important to get Lewis and crew saved as opposed to sending them back to rescue Whatney. Whatney’s predicament as presented is enough for one film but it seems like some of the NASA scenes where people are scrambling to get something done, although well acted and staged, are perfunctory. In relation to the overall piece most of these scenes could have simply been trimmed to keep everything at a great brisk running time. A minor quibble though within a film that gets most everything right.
In the end “The Martian” serves as that rare combination of successful star-director-crew collaboration that is able to function within the confines of a major studio film without losing artistic integrity in the process. More importantly this film touches upon a great concept that is also becoming rare in our recent times. And that is the brilliant resolve of the human spirit.
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