by Chris @Movieguy84
Ridley Scott’s The Martian is an enjoyable rescue mission story that isn’t afraid to get wear it’s nerd badge.
The film starts with a six person Mars mission team having to abort while believing that their astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is killed during the escape. The film balances itself between NASA back at Earth dealing with the aborted mission and the presumed death, and the audience discovering that Watney is in fact alive. As a botanist he begins to grow food, and starts planning on surviving until the next manned mission to Mars is set to arrive since he knows NASA assumes he is dead.
We see as the film progresses that NASA learns that he is still alive and the planning in attempting to rescue him. It gives a realistic look at how a people that run a business settle disputes. Jeff Daniels plays the NASA Director and is constantly attempting to balance business needs, the PR image of NASA, and the human desire to rescue Watney. This conflict resonates out to teams assigned to figure out his rescue, and eventually to the team that left Watney behind.
The cast is in this film is definitely one of the best, but I felt some were miscast. For instance, Jeff Daniels wasn’t convincing as the cold business minded NASA Director, just as Sean Bean had a difficult time as the caring flight director concerned for his team. Thinking about this miscasting it seems that the two should have been cast in the other’s role. Everyone else was fantastic, Jessica Chastain is always great as the strong-willed female lead, and Donald Glover makes a hilarious cameo about two-thirds into the movie. Then we have Matt Damon as the abandoned astronaut. If they had someone else play this role, I’m not sure you could have had the audience care as much for this character. The film balances on whether or not you care about this guy and if he will be saved. If you don’t care about the lead, then this is gonna be a long movie. Damon portrays a likeable hero that everyone can root for.
Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods, World War Z) took Andrew Weir’s novel and brought it to the screen perfectly with his script. Goddard’s signature humor is prevalent in the film, and he does an adept job of making Watney a relatable character. The science is also left intact and is actually what made certain parts of the film quite entertaining such as a scene where Watney attempts to create water which occurs through some humorous trial and error.
Overall I really enjoyed a lot about this movie and was glad to see it turn out so good. Even if you’re not into dramas, or sciencey type of movies, you’ll definitely enjoy The Martian with it’s humor and great acting.
Ridley Scott’s The Martian is an enjoyable rescue mission story that isn’t afraid to get wear it’s nerd badge.
The film starts with a six person Mars mission team having to abort while believing that their astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is killed during the escape. The film balances itself between NASA back at Earth dealing with the aborted mission and the presumed death, and the audience discovering that Watney is in fact alive. As a botanist he begins to grow food, and starts planning on surviving until the next manned mission to Mars is set to arrive since he knows NASA assumes he is dead.
We see as the film progresses that NASA learns that he is still alive and the planning in attempting to rescue him. It gives a realistic look at how a people that run a business settle disputes. Jeff Daniels plays the NASA Director and is constantly attempting to balance business needs, the PR image of NASA, and the human desire to rescue Watney. This conflict resonates out to teams assigned to figure out his rescue, and eventually to the team that left Watney behind.
The cast is in this film is definitely one of the best, but I felt some were miscast. For instance, Jeff Daniels wasn’t convincing as the cold business minded NASA Director, just as Sean Bean had a difficult time as the caring flight director concerned for his team. Thinking about this miscasting it seems that the two should have been cast in the other’s role. Everyone else was fantastic, Jessica Chastain is always great as the strong-willed female lead, and Donald Glover makes a hilarious cameo about two-thirds into the movie. Then we have Matt Damon as the abandoned astronaut. If they had someone else play this role, I’m not sure you could have had the audience care as much for this character. The film balances on whether or not you care about this guy and if he will be saved. If you don’t care about the lead, then this is gonna be a long movie. Damon portrays a likeable hero that everyone can root for.
Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods, World War Z) took Andrew Weir’s novel and brought it to the screen perfectly with his script. Goddard’s signature humor is prevalent in the film, and he does an adept job of making Watney a relatable character. The science is also left intact and is actually what made certain parts of the film quite entertaining such as a scene where Watney attempts to create water which occurs through some humorous trial and error.
Overall I really enjoyed a lot about this movie and was glad to see it turn out so good. Even if you’re not into dramas, or sciencey type of movies, you’ll definitely enjoy The Martian with it’s humor and great acting.