Movie Review: The Martian

Yay, science! The Martian, much like Gravity, celebrates the collaboration of humanity and technology to accomplish great things. In an age of scientific neglect, The Martian is a great reminder of how important knowledge can be to solve problems. It also reminds us Matt Damon is a great actor.

The Martian is about a team of astronauts studying Mars. As they are preparing to leave, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets hit by some debris and stuck in the sandstorm, forcing Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain) to leave him behind to save the crew and mission, presuming Watney died. Mark lived however, and uses his knowledge of botany, engineering, and NASA history to keep himself alive, communicate home, and plan a rescue mission. NASA and the world figures out Watney is alive, and pools their resources together to try to bring him home.

I could not write a better love letter to scientific thought and engineering. The plot of the Martian is a sequence of complex scientific problems, short and long term, that need to be solved. The only superheroes you will see here are the brilliant minds and ideas of people who understand and value scientific principles. On top of that foundation lies an even more core principle of knowledge: collaboration. The best ideas come about when everyone shares what they have or know to formulate the best possible solution. Watching the world pool their collective best to bring this man home is not only thrilling to witness, but in addition, The Martian reminds us of the limitlessness of the possibilities of humanity when we work together. Yay humans!

An isolated man who has to live alone for years and endure a risky rescue? Sounds bleak right? So it comes as a surprise how funny The Martian is. Mark Watney is an analytical man, so he records logs of his progress periodically. These logs can be partially sarcastic and partially warped by a man living by himself. The funniest bits are when Mark solves a problem or reaches a conclusion, like due to maritime law, he colonized mars because he grew plants there. Even the debates on the planet have funny interchanges of either condescension or eccentricity. This humor leavens the mood enough to generate mega tension during each problem solving sequence and especially the attempted rescue. Yay jokes!

This is Matt Damon’s castaway. While Tom Hanks had a volleyball, Damon has a video blog. The actor, after some shaky roles, (get ready for the pun) launches himself back into orbit playing astronaut Watney. Damon has a way of emoting seriousness even while being glibby. It is a tour de force performance from the A-lister. Much like the story, The Martian has a strong supporting cast of helpers that contribute little parts: Kristen Wiig, Donald Glover, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mackenzie Davis all do their part. The standouts of the ensemble are Benedict Wong who laughingly builds the rockets under impossible timelines, Sean Bean and Jeff Daniels who spar over NASA’s public image and astronaut safety, and Jessica Chastain and Michael Pena who are crew members of Watney. Yay ensembles!

The Martian is a 2016 remake of Apollo 13. Using space as the villain, each film deals with the trials and tribulations of a group of smart people uniting to help save someone(s) in need. Maybe Ron Howard and Ridley Scott should collaborate together to make a Hanks/Damon stuck in space teamup. That could be something special.  Yay Hollywood!

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