Movie Review: The Martian

The Martian - Directed by Ridley Scott         Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I wasn't originally planning to go see The Martian. The storyline didn't appeal to me. I had not seen any ads or trailers. But Jamie came back from a business trip to Sydney the other day and he started watching it on the plane. He stopped after a few minutes because he knew this was a movie Sarah and Janis and I would enjoy, so he thought he would wait until he got home so we could all watch it. We did so last night. 

The Martian is nothing short of amazing. A tribute to human skill and ingenuity, to resourcefulness, to heroism. The story takes place in a not too distant future when manned missions to Mars are a reality. Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, is an astronaut, part of a group of six astronauts living on the red planet on the third of the Ares missions. 

The story begins with some routine work being done when a wind storm appears on the horizon. Martian weather can be fierce and unpredictable. This storm looks like a big one. The decision is made to prepare to leave the planet if the storm becomes too violent. But the storm hits as they are making their way to the Mars Ascent Vehicle. Debris hits Watney and blows him away from the vehicle as the others scramble aboard. 

The list of the rocket ship is assessed and if it tilts past twelve degrees in the storm, they must leave or risk the rocket being knocked over and escape made impossible. Signals of life from Watney have ceased and the intensity of the storm forces their hand. Commander Melissa Lewis, played by Jessica Chastain, orders lift-off. Watney's presumed corpse is left behind.

But Watney was not killed. A piece of antenna stabbed him in the gut and disabled his biometric indicators as it did so. He awakens to a beeping as his oxygen starts to run out. The storm has passed. He realizes he is alone. The antenna stuck in his belly is also sealing the suit, so he makes his way to the Hab or habitat, the Mars station where the astronauts had set up camp. After entering through an airlock, he strips off his suit and does some surgery on himself, removing the antenna, removing a piece of debris, and sealing the wound with staples. And the story begins.

I don't want to give away too much after this as the story is both gripping and ingenious. All the communications gear was on the MAV and so Watney is without any means of communicating with earth. And the next Mars mission is scheduled four years hence, so he has a long wait ahead of him and only enough food for a year. Watney must figure out how to make his food last, how to communicate with earth, how to travel the long distance to the Ares IV landing site with a rover that has only a limited range, and how to cope with the annoying disco music Commander Lewis left behind!

Back at Mission Control on earth, telescopic views of the Martian Hab site reveal that Watney is alive and they must figure out how to communicate with him. Meanwhile, the five remaining crew members have reconnected with the orbiting Hermes spacecraft and are on their way back to earth. They do not know Watney survived and Mission Control keeps the information from them.

The interplay of the efforts on earth and from Watney to establish communications are intriguing. Plans to save him are developed. There is in-fighting on strategy. There is mutiny and heroism. 

This movie is gripping from beginning to end. The ending has you on tenterhooks. You care about these people and their mission. You admire their ingenuity and heroism. On top of that, the cinematography is stunning. The recreation of the Martian landscape is brilliantly done. 

This is a must-see movie. If you liked Sandra Bullock in Gravity, you'll love this one. It's even better.

The Oscars are on Sunday and The Martian has been nominated for seven of them - Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay as well as Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects and Production Design. 

I've seen four of the Best Picture nominees - Bridge of Spies, The Revenant and Spotlight. All are worthy contenders. I loved each of them. The Revenant won the Golden Globe for Best Picture and The Martian won for Best Picture Comedy or Musical. The Martian is neither a musical nor a comedy so I don't know why it was nominated for that. But of the two winners, I liked the Martian better. It should, in my opinion, win the Best Picture Oscar.

Leonardo DiCaprio won the Golden Globe for Best Actor with Matt Damon taking the Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical award. Both have been nominated for the Oscar. Damon's performance is brilliant, but I think DiCaprio should and will win the Oscar. 

Ridley Scott should have been nominated for Best Director and his omission is a travesty. I would have picked him over the directors of Spotlight or The Revenant. I believe Alejandro Iñárritu will take home his second consecutive directing Oscar. But Scott was better in my opinion.

The brilliant recreation of Mars should bring home the Production Design and Visual Effects Oscars for The Martian. (I've seen four of the five nominees for Visual Effects and The Martian tops them all.)

Interesting Links

Spoiler Alert: These links give away some plot points. 

• How Scientifically Accurate is The Martian? - from The Guardian
• How Accurate is The Martian? - from IFLScience

 

Movie Review: The Martian