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It’s been a long time – too long – since we’ve had a rollicking good sci-fi film set in space. There’s been a fair few turkeys this year (Jupiter Ascending, anyone?), so I put a lot of faith in The Martian to redeem the genre.
Quite fortuitously, this film’s release has coincided with NASA’s revelation of water being found on Mars. And, from the opening camera pan across the incredibly gorgeous yet barren landscape of Mars, with deep reds popping out of the screen to singe eyeballs, it will challenge anyone who has ever gazed upwards with wonder not to be instantly gripped.
We are soon introduced to a team of astronauts who have been sent on a mission to our closest neighbour for scientific study. Unfortunately, a storm rolls in and they are forced to abandon the planet. On the way back to the lander, Mark Watney (Damon) is struck by debris and team leader Melissa Lewis (Chastain), believing him to be dead, takes off without him.
Of course, Mark wakes up soon after to find himself abandoned and alone. The situation dire, with the harsh landscape stretching endlessly around him and the astronauts’ temporary habitat not meant to sustain life for the extended amount of time it would take for NASA to send a rescue ship, Watney must figure out how to survive with just the few tools he has.
The movie sinks or swims on the back of Damon’s performance, as he has to carry a vast portion of the film on his own. Luckily, he is absolutely fantastic. I’ve always felt that he’s one of the more underrated actors out there, but he really gets a chance to shine in the spotlight here and I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t find a few gongs coming his way.
His job is far from an easy one, but he makes Watney’s emotional highs and lows relatable in this completely foreign situation. Who knew watching someone figure out how to make water and grow food could be so intriguing?
Handheld cameras, and the use of them to create dialogue in scenes that would otherwise be quiet, are an overplayed cliché these days, but here they are fresh and some of the film’s best parts. The fact that a video log is actually believable in this situation (and not, for example, a panicking father following his possessed daughter into a creepy, dark cellar) goes a long way towards that.
As a scientist documenting experiments on an unknown planet, Watney explaining what he is trying to do engages the audience in the on-screen events.
A lot of credit must go to the film’s director and writers. Ridley Scott’s pedigree can’t be questioned, with some of the greatest sci-fi films of all time under his belt (Alien, Blade Runner), and his confident direction explores themes of isolation, hope and desperation while always having perfect angles and framework in mind.
The science is also (supposedly) extremely accurate in terms of the experiments Watney performs to sustain himself, which makes the events that little bit more believable.
If there is one area where the film is slightly weak is that the attempt to get Watney home has to bring in a swathe of auxiliary characters. The audience is bombarded with introductions to staff at NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) who have the required expertise to launch the rescue mission. While the cast is stacked with talent (Sean Bean, yay! He doesn’t die, double yay!), they are introduced to spout some technical or emotional guff before they disappear again.
This also leads to the problem of Watney disappearing for extended chunks. These sections drag a little as we are watching the film to see more of his weird and wonderful ways to survive, not techno wizards debating endlessly.
On balance though, The Martian is a triumph. A combination of the natural intrigue of exploring the unknown, problem-solving, powerful visual design and a visceral soundtrack, this is a tour de force fully worth your time. A film of emotional highs and lows backed up by logic and an exceptionally strong individual performance, this is an event not to be missed.
*Releasing tomorrow
