Earlier this week I had the unbelievable pleasure of attending a screening of The Martian alongside Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr: the first African-American to walk in space. The guy’s logged over 400 hours and traveled millions of miles in space…so I’m admittedly in awe of the living legend beside me. But before I get too carried away, let’s proceed with our review.
So, before I get into our review, I must preface by saying I did not read the book.
But why? You say? Because books are for chumps. (Not really; actually one of my goals for 2015 was to read more, and I’m proud to say I’ve read about 10 books so far this year, sadly this book did not make that list).
For those of you still with me, I’ll cut straight to the chase: The Martian is a brilliant movie – cinematically, story-wise, pretty much everything else – and excels in telling exactly the story it wants to tell.
For centuries, our world has been fascinated with space and the vast unknown around our planet. Call it curiosity, call it playing God, hell, call it a fascination with bright shiny objects (read: stars and galaxies). I know that personally I grew up with a great admiration for what hovered above the heavens, and even now the thought of the millions of galaxies and stars around us often leaves me daydreaming. So, for me, The Martian was a must-see movie, and the opportunity of a lifetime came when I was told I’d be seeing it with Dr. Harris – who by the way is one of the friendliest, most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met.
[blockquote]The movie highlights human ingenuity in such a fantastic way…[/blockquote]In The Martian, Matt Damon plays the role of a botanist, Mark Watney, who after being left for dead on Mars is forced to “science the sh**” out of his predicament in order to live. The film follows multiple story lines – that of Watney as he struggles to survive, NASA trying to contain the situation while devising a plan to get their astronaut back, and the Ares 3 crew that were forced to vacate Mars in a hurry in the middle of a devastating sandstorm, leaving Watney behind.
NASA’s director of Mars missions, Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) along with the head of NASA, played by Jeff Daniels (Newsroom Jeff, not Dumb & Dumber Too Jeff, much to my relief) must come up with a way to rescue Watney and in the process juggle public opinion, heated press conferences, and manage morale within the agency after learning that their left-for-dead Astronaut is in fact alive.
The movie highlights human ingenuity in such a fantastic way, I almost left the theater wanting to work for NASA. Watney is forced to ration and scavenge so as to even have the hope of surviving such a desolate planet. The Martian brings the most complex of scientific ideas down to a simplified level with a tinge of emotion – as you watch Watney’s struggle to survive and the toll on him, empathizing with the determined, admirable character on the screen is almost automatic.
[blockquote]I exclaimed a lot of things, like how freakin’ cool the Rover looked…[/blockquote]
The Martian is filled with brilliant writing and the story is engaging, never boring – matter of fact several moments in the film had me on the literal edge of my seat. Director Ridley Scott did a great job of allowing us to experience the vast loneliness and solitude of a mostly unknown planet millions of miles away…which, I think, is a feat that deserves recognition. Also of note, the casting of the film is remarkable. From Damon’s leading role to Donald Glover’s character who shows up later in the movie, I felt the casting and characters were very believable.
The fact that a Lord of the Rings reference was thrown at Sean Bean’s character in the movie (I was told this was in the book) was pure gold; matter of fact I nudged my friend sitting beside me and exclaimed that almost word-for-word, much to the chagrin of those behind me I’m sure (I exclaimed a lot of things, like how freakin’ cool the Rover looked as it climbed over dunes with its headlights on).
Beyond the gorgeous visuals and darn near impeccable cinematography, The Martian is funny, awe-inspiring and I hope it supplies the imagination of generations with dreams of space travel. At the end of our screening, I hosted a Q&A session with Dr. Harris who related a lot of his experiences in space to what we just witnessed in the movie. He explained how authentic the movie felt – everything from the EVAs (spacesuit) to the decisions made by NASA.
With a fine mix of adventure, humor, science, and space pirates (inside joke), The Martian is a perfect 5 out of 5.
The Martian Review Score
