The Martian Review (2015)

The Martian

  What do you get when Life of Pi meets Interstellar? You get Ridley Scott's new film, The Martian, staring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a lot of other A-list actors.

  I was super excited for this movie because the trailer looked absolutely incredible and I'd heard a lot of good things about the book. Yes, it's based off a book, it's not a true story, although it definitely felt pretty real due to the awesome script by Drew Goddard. While the movie had a LOT of strong points, the script was definitely the strongest. It was witty, heartfelt, and clever. Not only that, but a lot of the science was actually plausible, which blows my mind. I just kept thinking to myself as I sat there in the theater, "how the heck did the author come up with a solution for THAT problem?" It was truly genius.

  Matt Damon does an awesome job, as usual, making our protagonist incredibly likable despite the lack of backstory. This isn't necessarily a knock on the film, but I did want to know more about his family life. Was he married? Did he have kids? Did he have a girlfriend? How was his relationship with his parents? What did his parents think about the whole situation? I feel like if they had focused a little more on developing that aspect of his character, the stakes would've been raised and the ending would've been even more satisfactory. On the other hand, I think they handled his bond and chemistry with the rest of the crew incredibly well! It was also super nice seeing Jessica Chastain play such a leader-type main character since she's such a big advocate for important roles for women.

  The movie easily could have been super drab and depressing simply because of it's subject matter, but it wasn't. It was funny, serious when it needed to be, non-sentimental, and really a celebration of life and why it's worth fighting for. The Martian boasts in it's visual effects, really bringing life to Mars (no pun intended). I think at this point, it's fair to say that Ridley Scott has redeemed himself from that atrocity Exodus: God's and Kings. 9 out of 10 stars. (I'd Buy It On Blu-Ray)