The Martian
Starring: Matt Damon,
Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig
Directed by:
Ridley Scott
Written by: Drew
Goddard
141 Minutes Rated: M
We dream of the day human lands on the surface of Mars and
has an Armstrongian wander around. For yonks we’ve had books and stories in one
form or another about ‘life’ on Mars; those who believe in UFOs generally
imagine it’s the Martians inside and who come among us. I wonder where the
fascination for that planet and the possibilities we assign to came from, maybe
it’s to do with the idea of heaven and the heavens, perhaps a refuge for
atheists who poo poo the heaven concept but can’t quite throw off some tribal
need for humans to connect or seek the ‘other worlds’?
Ridley Scott has brought us another chapter in the mission
to Mars story and it’s one of the best. A NASA team led by commander Melissa
Lewis (Jessica Chastain)needs to flee Mars before they’re wiped out by a
destructive storm. She rallies the crew and they escape through (an extremely
convincing and visually magic moment)the building storm of wind, sand and debris onto the
launch module and head off. Bit of an oops though, one of the astronauts, Mark
Watney (Matt Damon) gets himself rather brutally injured and all signs
indicate, well, there are no signs of life. Bye Mark we’ve got places to be…
Of course he’s not dead, just a bit battered and bewildered
but patches himself up and sets about life on his own in the base working out
how to survive on minimal supplies and little hope of rescue. He talks through
his progress via a video diary and some very well paced and constructed
snapshot scenes with the requisite amount of drama, nice comedy and a bit of
pathos. Beautifully done.
Lest you worry this is a film only about a Martian castaway
and the same desperation presented in twenty different ways to fill out the 141
minutes, there is a steady, convincing and assured cutting between Watney and
the guys back at NASA (and China – oh yes). Jeff Daniels as NASA director Teddy
Sanders (although I did think it was just Will McAvoy finding a new career
after The Newsroom)was a steady hand steering through the advice and conflicting
thoughts of mission controller Chiwetel Ejiofor and PR whiz Kristen Wiig. The
scenes of the administrators and controllers were often as compelling and tense
as those up on Mars. This showed Scott’s skills, he is a master when he’s in
form.
So I loved this movie, it looked good, it was well written,
it was well acted and it was almost faultlessly directed. And importantly for a
science fiction movie it was totally believable; I never thought for a moment
that this could not have actually been happening right now. There’s an achievement.
I’m no science or aeronautic expert but I ponder on the
following:
·
You have the technology to colonise or land and
live on Mars BUT not to accurately determine if someone is dead or simply
comatose/unconscious?· No one thought to include seeds/snap frozen seedlings in case other food was inedible or ran out for some reason?
· Why couldn’t the ‘mother ship’ be turned around as soon as they found Watney was alive?
· No back up comms system that would have received his video diary? Really?
Just askin’…
4 ½ out of 5
