The Martian is probably the happiest space disaster movie I’ve seen. Now that I’ve got your attention, let me explain why.
Instead hopping on a “Houston, we have a problem” route for a space drama, director Ridley Scott delivers a well-paced and mostly positive look at a man trying to survive in a place that’s millions of miles from home. Those aspects turn “The Martian” into one of the more fun movies I’ve seen all year that isn't a summer blockbuster spectacle.
Based on the book by Andy Weir, the story drops us in what I assume is the near future, with NASA managing to grab some semblance of funding for a manned trip to Mars. A sudden storm hits the planet that forces the crew to evacuate, but a freak accident leaves behind Mark Watney, the team’s botanist and mechanical engineer. While the world and his crew thinks he’s dead, he struggles to survive on Mars’ wasteland.
How Watney goes on about that task is surprisingly upbeat. His optimism is nearly endless — he cracks jokes about his commander’s left behind disco music during video diaries, and jokes about being “the greatest botanist on Mars" due to the crops he’s managed to plant. Damon handles Watney’s self-assurance with an enjoyable flair, and it was easy to feel the joy when his McGuyver-esque survival tactics succeed.
It isn’t quite the same story back on Earth however, which is only slightly disappointing. The film travels from Watney’s happy-go-lucky stance on his situation to more nuanced and serious affairs concerning NASA’s public identity and the politics that come into play around getting Watney home.
These tonal shifts aren’t jarring enough to the point of distraction. In fact, they’re very gracefully handled. Set pieces delve into suspense on both ends of the galaxy almost suddenly, and more often than not I found myself excited and anxious to see what would happen next.
That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that it was a little boring to come from the high of Mars to the deadpan nature of NASA Director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) or the slightly obsessive PR director Annie Montrose (Kristen Wiig). Chiwetel Ejiofor’s role as mission director Vincent Kapoor adds a bit of levity to the Earth proceedings, as does the disappointingly (yet understandably) underused Donald Glover, who’s channeling a bit of Troy Barnes into astrophysicist Rich Purnell.
Watney’s fellow crewmates deserve some praise as well. Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie play with a chemistry that feels like a family on a long road trip. Though no one character really stands out, they all flow together through witty dialogue and playful banter that makes the basis of a team with a past together.
I do feel the need to give credit to the cinematography as well as the set design of Mars. The two worked seamlessly in giving me the sense of emptiness that a barren place could provide. Watney’s antics aside, I never felt any sort of warmth as he traveled, with long and wide shots of dust and mountain ranges reflecting the botanist’s sense of loneliness. It’s well done, aside from a few creative liberties they took.
“The Martian,” for all intents and purposes, is one of the better films of the year so far. It not only handles its characters well, but has a balance of comedy and suspenseful moments that carry it through. Even with the slightly dull Earth scenes, which I should stress are not all bad, there’s more than enough here to enjoy.
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