The Martian review

[Westside Steve]

 

 

The Martian

 

20th Century Fox

 

Pg-13. 141 min

 

 

 

Well folks you have to admit the producers took on a tough assignment in the new film from Ridley Scott and Matt Damon, THE MARTIAN.

 

First of all it's the screen adaptation of a best-selling novel of the same name by Andy Weir.

 

Second in a similar fashion to Stephen King's CUJO the bulk of the action takes place in one spot. That in itself is a task, to keep a (nearly) one scene story interesting from beginning to end. Unfortunately for the book Andy Weir is no Stephen King. I tried to read the novel and bailed out maybe a third of the way in. Maybe during the long months of winter I will take a second stab at it but...

 

The film, starring Matt Damon, is a prime example in which there's not nearly enough story to hold your attention through a 15 hour book but just about enough to keep a two hour movie rolling.

 

The setup is relatively simple: a group of astronauts has landed on Mars and setup a space station. Weather conditions have put there exit in great jeopardy and believing that one of their crew members, biologist Mark Watney

 

(Damon) has been killed leave the planet without him. As it turns out he's only injured and the rest of the film is, as expected, a journalof his survival skills juxtaposed with the seemingly impossible rescue options.

 

 

He's an intrepid and ingenious fellow and each of the dire circumstances that present themselves are dispatched one at a time.

 

For instance as seen in the trailers, how do you grow food on a planet where nothing grows? Where do you get water from a place there is not? How do you avoid freezing to death on a planet that falls below the coldest temperatures imaginable.

 

All these problems are bad enough but greatly multiplied by the simple fact that no matter what a rescue operation does or how he will he adapt to his environment he could be stuck there not for weeks or months but quite possibly years.

 

Any one of these situations, including the politicians back at NASA , could mean death for our hero.

 

There isn't a lot of real human vs human conflict, beyond a couple minor skirmishes between the uptight NASA director (Jeff Daniels) and the scientists back on the ground, whatever strength we see is primarily man versus the elements.

 

There are easily enough conflicts and solutions to keep the audience entertained all the while remembering the ending could be heroic or tragic with equal dramatic effect.

 

Damons natural charm, combined with the steady flow of suspense, makes it all work quite well. My one gripe is that the pacing slows slightly but at very rare occasions, and is never a significant problem.

 

B

 

 

WSS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Westside Steve Simmons

[Tour2ma]

Winning review, Steve, on a movie I've actually seen... as opposed to The Intern. Really summed the movie up and reflected my experience without spoiling a single thing.

 

 

Aside: Maybe sometime can talk Books vs. Movies... which ones worked... which did not... which could not.

[Westside Steve]

Thanks for the kind words Tour.

Did you read the Martian book?

 

WSS

[Tour2ma]

No... not this one... so I did not want to derail this young thread.

 

I was thinking more of Slaughterhouse Five, Catch-22, 1984, and a few others as part of a general discussion.

 

That's odd... apparently the books I've read that turn into movies all have numbers in them...

 

EDIT: and you're welcome...

[The Cysko Kid]

Just rented this last night. Loved this movie. Not much they could have done better in my eyes. In light of the recent death of David Bowie the Montage set to 'starman' really got me in the ol' heartstrings. I really dug this much more than other recent space disaster flicks such as gravity and interstellar. I'd give it a solid A

[gftChris]

Agree, really excellent film,right level of gallows humour, right amount of tension. Better than gravity and interstellar also.

[Westside Steve]

bump