The Martian
Originally posted 7th November 2015 * Greg T. Miraglia
Interstellar was the beginning of a new type of Scifi movie. It used current science and expanded from on it, rather than ignoring what we already know to write an exaggerated fantasy story. Nolan’s production was praised for its research. The Martian follows in those footsteps, however instead of being a long distance into the future like Nolan’s space adventure, this movie takes place in a possibly seeable future (a stone’s throw in time).
Matt Damon’s character, Marc Watney uses humor to deal with the shock and stress of being stranded on another planet. The humor is often, yet executed with such charm that it doesn’t at any point come off as cheesy. This movie is very much a stuck on an island film, like Castaway with the plot’s full focus on survival. Guardians of the Galaxy, first brought us a 1970’s soundtrack in space by awkwardly including a mixtape. This film perfected the 70’s soundtrack concept, by not forcing an outlet into the script, rather just letting the music appear organically as one of the crew member’s preferences.
The casting choices in this Ridley Scott film were impeccable: Jassica Chastain as the concerned Commander Lewis, Kate Mara and Michael Pena as members of the crew. Even Earth bound characters, Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders the man in charge of NASA, Scientist and analysts played by Donald Glover, Benedict Wong and Mackenzie Davis. All and all a marvelous cast, however that is not the only reason this production was so well executed; it also had a proven writer on the script, Drew Goddard who helmed the eventual classic, Cabin in the Woods.
Stories produced by the big studios usually finish with movies that ask question, question, question, question, and end with answer, answer. This story ask a question, answered then questioned, answered then questioned, ended with an answer. Survival stories are not meant to be lined with ridiculous action, which is often the only tool used to keep the audience attention. The Martian was compelling enough that they never had to resort to unnecessary explosions or twists that drifted too far from reality. Watch it before it leaves theatres. It’s worth seeing on a big screen.