The Martian (2015) - Joint Review

Sam

A quick google of director Ridley Scott’s recent filmography will tell you that since 2007’s American Gangster, virtually all of his films have been released to overwhelmingly ‘negative-to-mixed reviews’ from critics. This is of course at the admission of the ‘certified fresh’ but polarizing Prometheus: the uninvited, unwanted and ugly cousin of Alien. A change, however, seems to be in the air (or lack of) in Scott’s latest space-tale, The Martian.

Our story begins in the vast, unknowable landscape of space, like one-too-many recent blockbusters. On Mars, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) leads a crack-team of scientists through a series of intricate space tasks, such as picking up rocks, dusting rocks, and putting rocks in jars. This turns out to be quite literally, the calm before the storm. A mere 2-3 minutes later and our team are preparing to evacuate following warning from Earth of an imminent super-storm. Amidst the commotion, Mark Whatney (Matt Damon) is struck by flying debris and disappears from sight. Unable to locate him, his team reluctantly begin their journey home without him. And there we have it. Matt Damon, alone in space; again. 

Fear not, as from here onwards, any similarities to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar all but vanish. Mark is able to make contact with Earth, and we learn that it will take over 500 days for NASA to man a rescue mission and retrieve him. Faced with the predicament of surviving over 500 days on Mars in a capsule designed to last 31, Mark vlogs his unwitting mission to ‘cultivate’ Mars. What this involves is mainly growing an endless supply of potatoes in an even-more-endless pile of his colleagues abandoned decomposing shit. A cheery tone surprisingly takes hold as Mark whistles through the first two hundred days or so, cracking jokes, eating faeces and generally being the most likeable alien on Mars.

From here onwards, a tiresome theme develops in which countless mechanical issues get in the way of Mark’s salvation. Throughout these scenes however, Damon is extraordinarily likeable, and at times, surprisingly funny. His dialogue is dominated by rambling monologues detailing his situation, whilst biting pop culture references explode like landmines, succeeding in drawing big laughs from audiences. There’s even impromptu disco dance numbers. Yeah. His performance however should not be reduced to that of a class-clown in a space suit. Breakthroughs and setbacks indiscriminately send Mark into moments of raw vulnerability, where we see him crumbling under the weight of his situation.

Back on Earth the rest of the cast are fantastic in their performances as Mark’s frantic (and often clueless) rescue team. Kristen Wiig is a standout as Annie Montrose, the head of media relations for NASA who struggles to downplay their numerous fuck-ups. Chiwetel Ejiofor also shines as the 12-years-a-slave-escapee-come-chemical engineer who orchestrates much of the communication with the stranded Mark. Even Troy from Community shows up at one point I think? Who knows? Mark’s abandoning team members lead by Jessica Chastain and Rooney Mara do the best with the screen time they are granted, but ultimately fail to make an impact, getting lost in the events that unfold around them, serving only to “go and get our boy back”; eventually.

If recent blockbusters have done anything, it’s instil the fear of space in all of us. Gravity and Interstellar are both so relentlessly intense and amazing in their own rights. But The Martian is different; charming, uncomplicated and reasonably low on dread. If you need any proof, look no further than Mark Whatney’s first line upon contacting NASA from Mars: 

“I’m not dead… obviously”.

- 4/5 STARS -

Tash

Sam's already covered most of the formal stuff so I'll try and keep my review a little bit more brief!

Sci-Fi films aren't normally my favourite genre. I can appreciate a good one - take Gravity - but it doesn't mean I'll necessarily enjoy it. I don't like the feeling of being isolated and trapped, the unrelenting hours of waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

The Martian was different for me, and I think main credit should go to the main character Mark Watney (Matt Damon); he brought a real human element to the film that I find other Sci-Fi's lack. His optimism and humour, while often bordering on dad-joke cringey, helped ground the film and give it an emotional level that normally gets swept away by action/suspense. You'd think that being more attached to a character in space would make me even MORE uneasy than usual, but I actually found myself relaxing in his company and being able to take in all the other great aspects of the film - the scenery, the acting, the science behind it. 
NASA actually collaborated with the science part, making it the most realistic space-exploration fiction I've seen to date... it was a weird experience watching a film set in space and for the first time thinking this could actually happen soon.

The Martian did seem to end up a bit of a one-man show. They introduced a whole bunch of other characters (Mark's team and NASA back home) but I found that regardless of how good the acting was there were just too many of them to take in considering their limited screen time. There were some nice ones, a less nice one, some kind of funny ones... that's about as far as I got. I was very excited to see Donald Glover pop up half way through, but his effortless-genius character never really took off either. Matt Damon pulled Mark off beautifully, with emotion and likeability, and he was the only one I really cared about at the end. 

Ridley Scott's brought a sense of  normality to a genre of films that are all about the abnormal, and I am definitely on board. 

- 3.5/5 STARS -