Last week NASA announced there is probably running water on Mars — news that made the idea of humans someday living on the red planet seem that much more possible. The new movie “The Martian,” released Friday, explored the idea of this possibility even further.
“The Martian” may be a contender for film of the year. The film stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut and botanist who is presumed dead and left on Mars after a bad shuttle landing. Stranded alone on the desolate planet, Watney must use nothing but his wits and a few extra supplies to survive and make contact with home. “The Martian” is being described as “Castaway” meets “Apollo 13,” — a fitting analogy.
Other members of the cast include Jeff Daniels as NASA Administrator Teddy Sanders, Donald Glover as eccentric astrodynamicist Rich Purnell, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as NASA engineer Vincent Kapoor. Everyone on screen gives a fantastic performance, and the action is all anchored in a sense of realism that brings out the humanity in the characters.
Director Ridley Scott, known for his early Sci-Fi masterpieces “Blade Runner” and “Alien,” has had a bit of a struggle the past five years. After his last big film “Robin Hood” came out in 2010, his work seemed to lose what had made it great. While it maintained strong visuals — as evidenced by “Prometheus” and “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” there was something missing. Critics pointed at the scripts of both films as the culprit, and that holds a lot of value. Scott’s productions recently have been tied to lackluster screenplays, the likes of which are not saved by his lush visuals and sensibilities. “The Martian” has broken this bad streak; Scott does not have that problem with this film.
“The Martian” is fantastically written. The film is surprisingly hilarious, while still being suspenseful, gripping and realistic. Matt Damon’s character has a great sense of humor and feels genuinely human in his optimism. His challenges are immense, but his approach to solving them and his reactions when things go wrong are inspiring.
Despite the humor the film is still able to maintain its intensity in the suspenseful moments. An early scene has Watney removing metal from his stomach without anesthesia, and moviegoers could feel the collective breath-holding in the theater. Many scenes push the limit of what is acceptable in a PG-13 feature, but they’re contextualized to feel necessary — even realistic.
There are moments where the film loses a bit of momentum, namely the 20-minute segment completely without Watney about two-thirds into the film, but the run time is about two hours and 20 minutes, so some dragging is to be expected. It is absurd to expect a constant, gripping pace for that long, and the film more than makes up for it in every other aspect. It is a small gripe for an otherwise amazing movie.
What is really striking about the film however is its timing; this could not have been released at a better time. NASA’s announcement already stirred further interest in space exploration, and the film’s success shows people are curious to see how far humans can go into the final frontier. Expect big awards for this film.
