The Martian – Film Review

This film is one of those movies that you feel is a tentpole which doesn’t need to be a franchise but will be extremely popular in successful. I have not read the novel but the premise sounded interesting. The release date has been a signature time to release big films. 2013 was “Gravity” and 2014 was “Gone Girl”, with November having “Interstellar (the other space film.) I felt from seeing the trailers, that it was going to be “Cast Away” meets “Apollo 13” — which is what it turned out to be. The movie definitely had moments were it felt very similar to both of those films. It somewhat detracted from my enjoyment of the film but it was an overall thrill ride.

Aspects of the film which I really did enjoy were the fact that this cast was very diverse and it never was an issue or a problem. It felt more real world than any other film I’ve seen depicting people today. The collaboration between China and America was a great point to which we all wish we could work together in the spirit of technological advancement and exploration. The chemistry of the crew was good – they felt like they could realistically work together and seemed intelligent. The visuals Ridley Scott does in his films is again well utilized with the landscapes of Mars. You really felt that you were on the planet. Matt Damon’s solo scenes did really sell the movie and kept you entertained — especially with the video diaries.

I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this

Sometimes the film did seem to go on longer than it should. It didn’t feel boring or not entertaining — it just felt that the film could have been tighter in length. Sometimes it became predictable that an event good or bad would happen and they would put Matt Damon’s character in an insane situation. He survived a lot of tough situations almost to the point to his survival being unbelievable. In comparison to Tom Hanks change from being stranded on an Island — Matt Damon’s weight loss in the film did look a bit CGI and it didn’t have as an emotional impact. The reveal of his body change isn’t shown until so far into the movie. The responsibilities and the actions of the NASA team on Earth seemed a little silly. NASA’s refusal to tell the team so far long after they knew he was alive and the mishandling of rushing to get him supplies was also predictable to fail.

Overall the film is an entertaining ride that definitely is worth the price of admission. It doesn’t need to be seen in 3D but I would recommend IMAX if available. The actors are great and the science in this movie is pretty accurate. For Ridley Scott is a great return for him especially with teaming up with Drew Goddard on the script. I look forward to both their next films and out of the 3 space films from 2013-2015 I would say this is the most fun.

8.5/10