REVIEW : The Martian (2015)

The Martian: basically an alternate universe of Interstellar where Murphy ends up going to space, and Dr. Mann is the good guy.

I'm kidding. If there's anything in common between the two films besides have two of the same actors on screen, it's that half of the story does not take place on Earth and that's about it.

The plot in The Martian is actually pretty straightforward. When a mission on Mars gets hit by a storm, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is struck by an antenna and then separated from the rest of the team who are forced to make an evacuation. Presuming he's dead, mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) makes the difficult decision to leave him behind. Only it turns out that he's alive, and is all alone on the red planet. Even though the odds are stacked incredibly high against him, with his wisecrack humour and Lewis' disco music that was left behind, Watney, a botanist, decides that he's not going to give up and die, then proceeds to do anything possible to survive on the inhospitable planet—from planting potatoes fertilised by leftover human waste, to making water from rocket fuel. Eventually, NASA finds out that they've left a man behind, hence the mission to bring Mark Watney home begins.

Yeah science, bitch.

I'm going to say this straight off the bat, The Martian is bloody amazing. I had such high expectations for it that it was very easy for it to just underwhelm, but it didn't. The Martian reached a point that was even higher that what I was expecting. If I'm supposed to grade it, The Martian doesn't get an A, it's gets a triple-starred A with a cherry on top. Director Ridley Scott (famous for films such as the original Alien film, Blade Runner, and Gladiator) makes the fictional mission seem like a sure possibility—which, considering the way things are going, it might be a reality in the future— but it still keeps it grounded. I do love how scenes on Mars are basically a mix between actual filming, and footage from Watney's video logs all around Mars. Whether it be his vlogs where he's talking into the camera (and to an extension, us), or an over-the-shoulder recording from his suit's camera. Editing in this is top-notch as well.

The cast did an amazing job in this movie. Matt Damon embodies Mark Watney so well that it's hard to imagine anyone else doing a better job. His performance feels authentic, and he never loses Watney's wit and humour. Chiwetel Ejiofor deserves a mention as well for being Vincent Kapoor, the person-in-charge of all the missions to Mars. Next to Watney, some of the funniest lines and scenes come from this guy. And of course, Sean Bean's Mitch Henderson whom you can trust to always do the right thing, even if everyone else is vehemently against it.

And he doesn't die. Which is nice.

There's also Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) who's also pretty funny. And also figures out a way to save Mark Watney.

I won't go into the usual route of comparing the books and films, on which is better and listing out all plot points in the book that the film missed out on. Naturally, considering the time constraint a film has, movie!Watney's survival on Mars is relatively easier than book!Watney's experience. The movie did exclude a few incidents presented in the book, and the book does give a more detailed account on what's going on, but I'm satisfied with the omissions made. If the movie were to have all of these, it would probably be two or three times longer than it's current two hours and twenty minutes length. Overall, it's one of the most faithful book-to-movie adaptations I've seen.

As long as the jokes in he book are in the movie then I'm not going to complain.

The thing is, I think the best way to enjoy The Martian is to both watch and read the book. If you read only the book, sometimes it's just a lot of scientific jargon for the average reader to follow and I often found myself just glossing over the text. But if you're just going to watch the movie, sometimes you don't quite get an understanding of what's going on cause they don't explain the details. I know it's kind of an oxymoron, but you'll understand if you've read the book and watch the movie. Think of it this way: sometimes it's easier to understand something if you look at it being done or do it yourself instead of just reading it on paper, that's what the movie does; sometimes you want to understand the specifics of doing something, that's where you'll read up on it, which in this case is the book. The movie is a visual representation of the book (which all movie adaptations are, in general) whereas the book is like a more comprehensive subtitle for the movie.

Read it, watch it, and you'll have the best of both worlds.

Perks of reading The Martian: if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, at least you'll have a chance of not dying.

I'm going to digress a bit over here. Is it me or is Jessica Chastain a little bit typescast? For three movies now (Zero Dark Thirty, Interstellar, and The Martian) I've seen her playing essentially the same character. A strong, intelligent, gutsy woman who's also not afraid to be in charge. It's just that I don't think she's good, because she's a brilliant actress. But, you know. Maybe it's just I haven't seen enough of her films. I do hope it's the latter.

The Ares III crew, right before everything went to shit.

 Overall, The Martian is an amazing film that you should experience, even if you're not a fan of sci-fi. Because at the heart of it, is the fundamental theme that drives humanity: the will to survive, and the roller coaster ride of emotions that comes with it. Maybe at the end of this film, you'll be like me, holding yourself back from giving it a standing ovation. Because that's exactly how good this movie is.

#SoDone

Other trivial musings : How do you know that a director has crazy attention to details? When Rich Purnell exhales in visible puffs while sitting NASA's supercomputer room. That's how.
 
TL;DR : A survival film that sucks you in, then makes you gasp in fear, cry, and laugh—all in the span of 141 minutes.
 

I rate it : 10/10 stars

Should you watch it? Yes, you'll be doing yourself a favour. 

THE MARTIAN (2015)

Genre : Sci-Fi Adventure

Runtime : 141 mins

Director : Ridley Scott

Cast : Matt Damon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean etc.

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