There are no two ways about it — “The Martian” is a fantastic film. It’s easily the most consistently fun, exciting, gripping, and satisfying movie I’ve seen come out of hollywood in the past few years. It owes a lot to its source material; I’ve read a substantial portion of the book and it’s already great, but the cast and crew of the film deserve a standing ovation for what they’ve done. They did what films should, but rarely manage– this is a movie that elevates its source material. Every performance, every special effect, every song: all of it goes towards creating an experience only a great movie can.
Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is a botanist on a six-man mission to Mars when a sandstorm hits, and the rest of his crew is forced to leave him behind, presuming him struck dead by debris. Watney wakes up disoriented and injured, to find himself alone on Mars — with only the provisions left for a 31-day-stay, and his own wit. The movie follows his journey of determination and survival, as he manages not only to stay alive on a planet with no life, but also find a way to communicate with earth and help orchestrate his own rescue.
There are a lot of things to like about this movie. In the forefront is Mark Watney. He is a very, very charming protagonist: one part smart and determined, another part witty and expressive. Watney isn’t without depth either, as fun as he is to watch, his cheery demeanor is often shown to be false, it’s something he puts up to reassure the crew that left him behind, or hide from his very probable death on Mars. Matt Damon captures the character perfectly, his highs and lows, his wit and his fear.
The rest of cast is equally deserving of praise. Despite only appearing for a small portion of the film, the group of scientists back on earth and the rest of the crew Watney belongs to all receive enough screentime to make them likable and distinct from one another. Every character in this film plays some part in Watney’s rescue and has some issue to grapple with and overcome. The film handles its large cast of characters with grace, and as the film comes to it’s climax, all of their various stories are satisfyingly wrapped up, each having a weighty impact on the overall trajectory of the movie. The only character I’d complain about was the quirky physicist played by Donald Glover. For a movie that time and time again proved itself able to handle funny people and comedy in a serious context, he felt overly cartoonish and out of place. In a film with at least ten good, fleshed characters, one missing the mark is really nothing to complain about.
The movie doesn’t necessarily strive for scientific accuracy, but it does strive for scientific plausibility — and I think it hits the mark there as well. Science forms the core of this movie; it drives Watney’s circumstances, it drives his survival, and it drives his rescue. If this science felt in some way unbelievable or illogical, the movie would very, very easily shatter. Thankfully, this is top notch sci-fi writing. Everything that happens in this movie feels logical. When Watney comes up with some solution to a problem, it’s satisfying because it makes sense, and when he fails, it feels justified. This is a very hard balance to strike in a movie dealing with elements its audience doesn’t understand or are being partially made up, but this handles this brilliantly.
While it isn’t quite as good as, say, “Interstellar” on a technical level, this movie looks and sounds really, really nice. It doesn’t need to go too far on the level of pure special effects — the climax and a few shots of spaceships are all I can think of, but every case of CGI felt really natural. Where this movie really earns my respect is in its sets and backgrounds. Mars takes center stage of course, with its vast and beautiful desolate plains, and gorgeous peaks and valleys, but beyond that I found most of the movies sets really nice. From the disorder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, and the advanced facilities on a Mars spacecraft, to the immaculate NASA boardrooms, every set in this movie looks distinct, and sets a particular tone.
The direction is also top notch, with a lot of memorable montages elevated by the movie’s liberal use of 80’s disco. The soundtrack across the board is a really nice mix of modern and old music, and its own sciency orchestral tracks. I think my favorite use of music in the film is “I Will Survive”, a choice that’s both funny and unexpected, but also very fitting very satisfying, a nice microcosm for the whole film, honestly.
The Martian really impresses me because for a film so strictly set on science and logic, it’s also incredibly human. It’s a mixture of things that I didn’t expect going in, and found myself the most happy with. Don’t get me wrong, I love sap, I didn’t like “Interstellar” much but all of the ‘power of love’ stuff–I adore it. But “The Martian” offers a more interesting point. Determination isn’t going to save you, faith isn’t going to save you, love isn’t going to save you, it takes action to make it through hard times — but it’s all of those things, love, support, determination, that drive you to take action and make it through. That’s what I get out of “The Martian” overall, and that’s what makes me want to get up and cheer as the movie gets closer to the end. As Watney perseveres, and pushes himself forward, as the team of scientists on NASA fight to keep him alive, as his crew members put their lives on the line to rescue him, and as the world watches and cheers him on, I can’t help but get dragged in. This movie is powerful; it’s good at drawing you into the struggle and good at making you cheer for Mark Watney — it makes you feel like part of the force driving him to make it back home. The climax is actually fairly simple– it’s cool on its own, but with all the movie has done to get you involved with it. With all of the stakes, it feels incredible, and when the movie fades to black and “I Will Survive” starts to play, that’s just icing on the cake.
I don’t think you need to ask — YES, YOU SHOULD SEE THIS! It’s my favorite recent movie, and honestly may become one of my all-time favorite movies whenever I get to see it again (soon I hope). It’s not so much that it’s the most interesting or moving film I’ve seen, just that it’s really fun, really well put together, and aimed right at what I like in movies. I can’t say whether or not you’ll love The Martian as much as I did, but I’m confident that you’ll like it at the least. Give it a shot!