The Martian is one of those films where if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve essentially seen the movie. Astronomer Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, is struck by debris during a storm while on the surface of the planet Mars. The fellow members of his crew presume him dead, and leave to return to Earth. Watney later recovers, makes his way back to the base, and struggles to survive with limited rations and limited atmosphere as he waits for NASA to conduct a rescue mission.
The plot of The Martian is essentially paint-by-numbers. It’s a simple tale of struggle and survival, that’s made to tug at the heartstrings of a mass audience. It’s full of tense, despairing moments where it appears all is lost, and it’s full of light, humorous moments where impossible odds are met with a life-affirming wink and a nod.
On the whole, it’s not bad for what it is. However, it’s a tad disappointing coming from director Ridley Scott. After giving us iconic, mind bending images of the Alien landscape, the gritty noir future of Blade Runner, and the fairy tale realm of Legend, the Mars of The Martian seems somewhat pedestrian. While it’s nice when studios make the rare attempt at hard science fiction, this story really could have been set in any remote location on earth and still have had the same effect. It doesn’t use its setting to tell any new and different tale, and it’s not so beholden to the laws of physics as to impart any sort of real science lesson.
The end result is a feel good, crowd pleaser aimed at the widest audience possible. It’s precisely the kind of film that studios crank out when they want to take as little risk as they can while raking in as much money as possible. It’s a “safe bet” movie, where every moment feels like it’s been carefully scrutinized by committee to be sure it hits all the notes on their “blockbuster” checklist. It even throws in the obligatory nod to the Chinese market, shifting the focus of the action away from NASA for a while to show us how the Chinese come in to save the day.
I’ll state again that The Martian really is not bad for what it is. While I recommend avoiding it in headache inducing 3D, the visuals are quite good and the cast is fairly likeable. There are some good moments of humor and good moments of tension. It’s a formula Hollywood film without any surprises, but it’s a decent enough one that doesn’t grate on your nerves and which hopefully will spark some viewers interest to learn more about space travel and about Mars. I’m not in love with the film, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from seeing it either.
Reviewing "The Martian"
Summary
While it’s nice when studios make the rare attempt at hard science fiction, this story really could have been set in any remote location on earth and still have had the same effect. It doesn’t use its setting to tell any new and different tale, and it’s not so beholden to the laws of physics as to impart any sort of real science lesson.
The movie was incredible and I by reading your review I have to guess that you have not read the book. I can kind of see where you coming from, but I would encourage you to read the book.
Yeah, I’ll have to eat a little crow on this one. Some of the scenes were far-fetched enough, I assumed they were throwing the science out the window (as Hollywood films are generally want to do). I wasn’t aware of the book it was based on or how much rigor had been put into getting the science right. Still wasn’t really my thing, but I do appreciate it was making a sincere attempt with the science. There aren’t nearly enough big budget, blockbuster films that try to do that so need to give credit where credit is due.