Tuesday, November 3, 2015

The Martian (2015, PG-13)

Okay, so I love this movie.  Surprise, surprise, right?  But that’s all right – I don’t care.  I’ll gladly love it.  It’s a fantastic film, with smarts, laughs, and heart, and I’m interested in reading the book it’s based on.  Gravity comparisons are probably inevitable, but while I’d say Gravity has a better look, The Martian has a better story.  (Premise spoilers.)

Thanks to a freak accident during a storm, Mark Watney, part of a team of astronauts collecting data/samples on Mars, is presumed dead/left behind when the rest of the team is forced to abandon their mission and leave the red planet.  Alone on Mars with limited supplies, no way of contacting NASA, and the knowledge that the next manned mission is in four years, Watney is determined to fight for his survival.  He faces every problem the inhospitable planet throws at him – from a dangerous lack of food to crushing isolation – armed with his science knowhow and incredible resilience.

Like most films that center around a single character completely on their own, this is a movie that lives and dies on its protagonist, and Watney is more than up to the task.  He’s resourceful and brilliant (but not infallible – some of his trial-and-error gambles are pretty heavy on the “error” part.)  He’s wildly tenacious, pressing on past the death of hope in the face of gargantuan odds.  And honestly, one of the clearest indicators of his strength of character is the sheer fact that he maintains his wry, self-deprecating sense of humor throughout his hardships.  By turns jaw-dropping, tense, hilarious, and heartbreaking, this is a film that grabs the viewer with both hands and doesn’t let go.  It’s a long one, clocking in at almost two-and-a-half hours, but I honestly never felt the length; it kept my attention the whole time.

But while Watney is definitely the well-deserved focal point of the story, it’s not only his film.  When NASA inevitably discovers that Watney is alive and stranded on Mars, a whole team of space-and-aeronautic geniuses band together to figure out how they can span the enormous distance between Earth and Watney to give aid, assistance, and, ultimately, rescue.  Some photograph the heavens, some build machines following impossible time-tables, some problem-solve living on a planet without life, and some sit alone scrawling equations, but each does what they can, however large or small, to help Watney as they’re able. 

The cast list reads like a who’s who of awesome people.  As Watney, Matt Damon carries the film on his spacesuited back, equal parts hero, genius, smart-aleck, and lonely, desperate man.  He capably sells everything the character has to offer.  However, he has tons of help.  On the ground, we have Sean frickin’ Bean, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Mackenzie Davis from Halt and Catch Fire, Donald Glover(!), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Chiwetel Ejiofor, people!)  The rest of the crew from Watney’s mission, which includes a terrific Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Michael Peña (seen recently in Ant-Man,) and Sebastian Stan, is particularly great.  I love any scenes that they share; it’s blindingly obvious that they’re all as lionhearted as they are brilliant, and they love each other like a family.  Clearly, Watney isn’t the only exceptional individual in his crew.

Warnings

Swearing, violence, brief nudity, and thematic elements.

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