I remember seeing The Martian in theaters a few years back with my grandma. I was in Laughlin, Nevada, and we did not have anything to do, but I remembered that this new space movie with Matt Damon was out. Not expecting much, we went to see it and I was instantly obsessed. This is easily my favorite Ridley Scott film and while it is different than many films he has made before, he really brings together all of his best skills on this movie. This film has an amazingly talented cast, an original and engaging story, and fantastic directing that makes it an instant winner.
The most outstanding part of this film is its direction. Ridley Scott is no stranger to the science-fiction genre, but this movie can easily be separated from the slew of dull, space movies. This movie incorporated comedy, action, adventure, and drama in the best possible way. The tone of this film was very light and despite the dire challenges many of the characters went through, this tone stayed consistently entertaining without missing a beat. This perfect blend of content was great and did not disengage the audience in any single moment. Writing in this film is another of its strongest parts, bringing an original concept to the viewers in a very interesting way. While Scott could have decided to make astronaut Mark Watney's journey a hellish and anxiety-inducing one, the character's lighthearted but determined nature made it easily watchable while still sitting on the edge of your seat. I loved how the writing balanced out the ending of the film as well. The pleasant conclusion was very satisfying without becoming too cheesy. All of the stories of the characters in this film were balanced very well and it felt like just as much of a rescue mission as it did a survival mission. Matt Damon, who played the stranded astronaut, was amazing in his role but the stories of all the characters around him made the film that much more enjoyable. In fact, the entire cast of this film was astounding. Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Mackenzie Davis, and the multi-talented Donald Glover rounded out the amazing cast. Just to name a few. While the entire supporting cast was amazing, Matt Damon was definitely the shining star. I believe that he was way more worthy of the 2016 Oscar for Best Actor than Leonardo DiCaprio, as he held up his scenes by himself and made the planetary isolation much more personal to the audience.
More parts of this film that I adored were all of the technical aspects. The cinematography was the most beautiful aspect all the way throughout, providing gorgeous shots and colors. The vast emptiness of space has always been a backdrop for some fantastic cinematography, but this film excelled in creating the perfectly scary and visually amazing atmosphere of Mars. I also appreciated the use of the "found footage" shots and the recording parts during Watney's time on Mars. It added that extra level of loneliness and characterization to Watney that Damon portrayed brilliantly. The final technical aspect that I loved was the science involved. While the science of space was not as thoroughly researched as Interstellar, I loved the effort put in to give it that extra level of reality. It was also more focused on biology and botany than black holes or alternate dimensions, which was a nice change of pace from the normal space movies. The aesthetic of this movie was done very well throughout and is definitely the best design aspect of the entire thing. My only problem with this film was the length of some of the scenes. There were many scenes that lasted a bit longer than they should have and diverted my attention to my phone for a quick second. The scene where Watney was launching into space was a bit clouded by a lot of unnecessary dialogue that got a bit distracting after a few minutes. A few scenes like this in the movie could have been cut, but instead added to the two and a half hour runtime. Even though it seems like it is very long, the story helps the audience get through it very well.
The Martian is an amazing example of a space adventure film with great humor and drama throughout. Matt Damon is a fantastic actor and the rest of the supporting cast performed very well too. The design was amazing and this film is easily one of my favorites of all time.
My Rating: ★★★★½
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