by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
When an unexpected storm stuck the surface of Mars, the crew of the ARES III was forced to abandon their mission and return to Earth. During the evacuation from the planet, Astronaut Mark Watney was injured and presumed dead. When it turns out that Watney survived his near-death experience, it is up to NASA and the crew of the ARES III to find a way to recover Mark before his time runs out. The Martian has finally arrived in theaters!
When Botanist and Mechanical Engineer Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is stranded on the red planet, he must use all of his technical skills to survive until help can get to him. Using video logs as a narrative device, the audience gets to experience the trials and tribulations of Martian life with Watney. Can one man survive on a barren planet for over 4 years with only limited supplies? Is it actually possible to grow food on Mars? How can communication be restored with Earth? These are only some of the interesting questions that are cleverly answered throughout the film. While Mark fights for his life, the team back at NASA strives to find a way to bring him home. When an astrodynamist comes up with a crazy maneuver to rescue Mark, his former crew must rise to the occasion to save their lost friend.
When films are adapted from novels, many fans tend to be concerned about how faithful the movie will truly be to the original source material. In regards to Andy Weir’s The Martian, Director Ridley Scott (Alien) and Screen Writer Drew Goddard (Daredevil) have done a pretty fantastic job capturing the magic of the novel and bringing it to the big screen. While there aren’t a ton of big changes, there are definitely pieces of the story that are cut due to time constrains and streamlining. Several of the big challenges Watney faces while trying to get to his rescuers have been removed from the cinematic tale, along with some of his best inner dialogue. The novel also opted for a non-linear form of storytelling to connect with the reader, and used log entries to help establish the astonishing daily events of Watney’s survival. Scott chose to tell the story in a linear fashion, and only used the log entry style sparingly. Even with these changes, The Martian still rises the rest of 2015’s films to provide an entertaining story with original characters.
The casting of The Martian couldn’t have been any more perfect. This film is loaded with recognizable faces, including Matt Damon (The Bourne Series), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), Michael Peña (Ant-Man), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity), and Donald Glover (Community). Damon kills it as Watney, channeling the character perfectly from the novel. Pena was highly entertaining once again as the comic relief (similar to his role in Ant-Man). Bean finally has been cast in a role (MINOR SPOILER) where he doesn’t die! Glover as Rich Parnell was a fantastic choice, and provides the perfect characterization for a key moment in the film.
In terms of visuals, The Martian has claimed the title of being my favorite 3D movie to date. The 3D in this film was absolutely incredible. The cinematography overall is gorgeous, and you have never seen an alien world like this. My recommendation is to spend the extra money and see this film in 3D, and find a theater that has a Dolby Atmos sound system installed. This is an intense film (in the best possible way), and you will get your money’s worth.
Overall
Having just read the book, I was a little disappointed at the cuts from the story. Mark Watney was truly the best candidate to be stranded on an alien world, and while his character got to thrive on his own on the page, he never quite reached the same levels of greatness on the big screen. If you haven’t read the book, you probably will think this is me being picky. I am happy that they chose to make cuts versus making drastic changes, but I am saddened by the characters that we never got to see reach full potential (ARES III crew characterizations being the first casualties). If you have the chance to read the book before seeing the film, it would probably increase your excitement, but isn’t required to get a thrill from seeing Matt Damon fight for his life on Mars.
I really had a great time with this release, and will probably end up seeing it again this week. If you want to see something completely new and original, go see The Martian. This is as original as it gets, and is the best thing Ridley Scott has produced in a long time. You won’t be disappointed.
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