I saw “The Martian” today. I know, it’s been out for a while, and I’m sorry, but we’ve had election work to do the past couple of weeks, and also I am in a house with three people and two cars.
First of all, I haven’t read the book. It might be incredible, and it might be dreadful. It might be an awesome adaptation, and it might be the equivalent of M. Night’s “The Last Airbender.” I’ll assume, for the sake of argument, that the film was an excellent adaptation of an excellent piece of literature.
I really, really like the first scene of Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, once he is (spoilers but not really) stranded on Mars. It’s a frantic scene in which he very quickly makes several snap decisions that mean the difference between difficult, painful survival and death, and it really sets him up as a clever, inventive man who is willing to do what it takes to stay alive.
Speaking of Mr. Damon, the acting in the film is pretty great. Matt Damon rarely turns in a bad performance, and this is no exception. He has a lot of “by himself” acting, reminiscent of Tom Hanks in “Cast Away” or, more appropriately, Sandra Bullock in “Gravity,” and he does a nice job with it. He is often sarcastic to the recordings he’s making, and you get a good sense of the kind of man he is, even though he’s not interacting with anyone but himself and the hypothetical viewer of his logs. It is always a good sign to have Jeff Daniels in anything, ever, and he doesn’t disappoint. Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose name I am proud to announce I spelled correctly without having to Google it, serves as a great mediator between Daniels and Sean Bean, who is another delightful presence. All the supporting roles are fairly solid, and fill their roles, with the crew of the spacecraft “Hermes” all delivering very nice performances, particularly Jessica Chastain as the commander, although it’s very, very nice to see that Kate Mara is capable of doing better than “Fant4stic.”
The cinematography is what you’d expect if you’ve seen either “Gravity” or “Interstellar,” if you dial it down a couple of notches. Most of the film is set on the surface of Mars, which means much more static landscapes, and far fewer Mass Relays. That’s not to say that the film is unappealing visually- far from it; I’m just warning those of you who’ve seen “Interstellar”: you’re not getting “Interstellar”-level cinematography here.
The soundtrack was an eclectic mix of sweeping orchestral score and added music. Of particular note was their use of Bowie’s “Starman,” which I’m sure was an easy choice, but it is also, evidently, a very nice choice for a montage.
I’d like to take a moment and make a very nerdy comment in the midst of my little write-up here. They make reference to a certain “Lord of the Rings” character and setting in the film (extra points for the scene in which the reference is made being in a conference room and involving Sean Bean), and soon after, I noticed a couple of comparisons between a short scene of Watney musing about his being “the first” to do most things on Mars, and the character of Durin from Tolkien’s works. Perhaps this was an unfounded comparison, made by my subconscious and fanned by my love of things Tolkien, but I found it an interesting moment nonetheless.
I did have a few problems with the film. Perhaps they’re problems from the book, faithfully adapted onto the big screen, but they were problems regardless. A few of the characters, particularly an eccentric scientist played by Donald Glover, were kind of jarringly silly, and it really did pull me out of the moment on a few occasions. Secondly- and I know Brody Ratto has heard this particular criticism too many times from me- the pacing in the film does drag a bit on a couple of occasions, in between the conflicts. It’s not a boring sit by any stretch, but there are a few moments where I feel the film could have benefited by picking up its pace. Finally, and this last one is only a half-criticism, the film fell straight into the twists I predicted…some of the time. There were times, however, where things did not at all go according to my expectations, which is, of course, to the film’s credit.
All in all, I’ll recommend the movie to any fan of a solid science fiction. There is some language, and an emaciated Matt Damon derriere, but so long as you can tolerate that, and have the patience for what can, at times be a somewhat methodical film, it’s a good choice.
As a forewarning to the two or three people reading this who occasionally take my little write-ups as a guide for whether a film is worth seeing or not, I haven’t bought my tickets to see “The Force Awakens” yet, and so my “review” of it will likely go up late. That being said, if you’re waiting on my say-so to decide whether to see the new Star Wars film… don’t do that. Just go see it.