THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
There will never be a day that space will cooperate with humans. If you don’t think so, watch The Martian.
PLOT
Based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, the film takes place in a fictional 2035 showing the astronaut crew of ‘Ares III’ on a mission to Mars. The crew includes: Commander Melissa Lewis, botanist Mark Watney, IT guru Beth Johansson (Kate Mara), pilot Rick Martinez (Michael Pena), flight surgeon Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) & chemist/navigator Alex Vogel (Aksel Honnie). The mission was to have an expedition for 31 solar days (sols), but a violent sand storm abruptly ends it at 18. When the crew evacuates, Watney is struck from debris and is accidentally left behind. When he wakes up after the storm, he treats his wound at the abandoned surface habitat (Hab). Knowing that it’ll take another Ares mission to be rescued, he uses his botany skills to survive; He creates a garden inside the Hab by fertilizing Martian soil with the crew’s bio waste, along with manufacturing water from leftover rocket fuel. On Earth, NASA satellite planner Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) discovers that he is alive when noticing moved equipment. When NASA Director Teddy Sears sees the proof as well, he does eventually tell the public of it, but decides not to tell the Ares III crew in order to focus on figuring out how to save him. Within the next month, Watney reaches an older probe called the ‘Pathfinder’, using it to communicate with NASA. When he finds out that his crew doesn’t know he’s still alive, flight director Mitch Henderson is then allowed to share the news to them, which understandably shocks them all. Mars Missions Director Vincent Kapoor and Jet Propulsion Library (JPL) director Bruce Ng develop a space probe that’ll send enough food for Watney until Ares IV arrives. Sadly, the Hab’s airlock gets blown out, which destroys the potato garden. Sears then makes a bad decision by skipping the inspection for the probe, which causes the Rocket to explode shortly after lift off. These turn of events inspire the China National Space Administration to offer their own booster rocket to save him. Although this is helpful, JPL astrodynamicist pitches to have China’s booster rocket rendezvous and resupply with Watney’s crew, which’ll allow them to slingshot back to Mars two years earlier. Sanders turns it down because of it sounding too risky, but Henderson pitches to the crew anyway, resulting in them to unanimously decide to do it without NASA’s approval. Johanssen is able to disable NASA’s remote controls and masked the course change. Sanders does support the plan publicly, but demands Henderson to resign afterward. As time goes on, Watney reaches a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) planted in advance for the Ares IV. He has to lighten it considerably in order for it be ready for takeoff. So he removed multiple seats and navigation control systems, along with replacing an airlock with a tarp. This happens because around Sol 517, NASA discovered that the crew won’t be able to enter Mars’ orbit because they won’t have enough fuel to return to Earth and the MAV was designed to get to low Mars’ orbit. By Sol 561, the day of the rescue mission begins. With Martinez flying the MAV by remote control, Watney is launched into orbit. It turns out not being enough because it’s still too low to reach thee crew’s ship. So Lewis improvises by ordering Vogel to create a minor explosive that’ll blow the front hatch and slow the ship down enough to reach him. Lewis then decides to tether herself from the ship outside to reach him, but she still isn’t close enough. Watney then gives his last move by piercing his suit to propel himself to her. Once they catch each other, Beck pulls them back in and the rescue mission is deemed a success. The film ends in an epilogue that takes place years after the rescue: Watney is a survival instructor for astronaut candidates, while Martinez is in command of Ares V, since the others have settled down. Henderson also retired as flight director, enjoying time with his family as well. THOUGHTS
I actually recall skipping school to see this movie when first renting it, and it was worth it. Writer Drew Goddard and Director Ridley Scott were able to craft an exhilarating story of survival. We all know space is dazzling to see onscreen and in real life, but the visual effects to depict Mars was all the more stunning. With Dariusz Wolski contributing fantastic cinematography, every view of the orange planet is just as beautiful as one would predict. Even though this is a story about survival, the whole film makes the experience and everyday experience, which is a feeling I never thought I'd feel with such a premise. It feels inspirational because it is also practical, which helps us embrace our inner genius. Without Matt Damon's incredible Oscar nominated performance as Mark Watney, we wouldn't feel this way at all. When he says "I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this", it feels relatable because it expresses his optimism and determination at the same time. He has to figure it out how to survive as he goes or dies and he prefers the first choice like any sane person would. He doesn't think too much about it and takes it day by day. The self aware humor he creates keeps him in check and puts the terror at bay. In a big way, we connect to Mark because in the world we live in, we take everything day by day to survive. Although Damon is the star on Mars, the supporting ensemble on Earth and in space make the film about as interesting as he does. In space, Jessica Chastain plays the dynamical Commander Lewis and stands out the most from the rest of the Ares III/Hermes crew. She does have a soft side, since she listens to classics 70s music, but knows when to take the job serious. She is the only one to feel guilt of Mark's tenure on Mars because she felt that she didn't try hard enough looking for him when he got knocked out by debris. She has the good soldier mentality of not leaving people behind. And once she realized that he was still alive, she refused to not miss the opportunity. So by the second she caught him in space, she personally redeemed herself in the long run. On Earth, Jeff Daniels leaves a good impression on presenting Teddy as the most cautious. Whenever something doesn't work out, discussing over what is the safest option is a top priority because the safer the better. Vincent does come off, but Chiwetel Ejiofor reminds us that he is as responsible as the others around him. When he's not giving speeches, he will give a laser sharp focus off camera, which is the mindset that was beneficial when working with Bruce. Sean Bean surprises me by not dying and playing Mitch as the bold & brash one while everyone chooses to be safe. It is easy to dislike the method of telling Rich's plan to Watney's crew without approval of NASA, but arguing with the result is impossible because it was worth it in the long run. I also enjoyed Benedict Wong as Bruce Ng because he is the one leading the teams responsible for creating the things possible to save Watney. He has his own layer of responsibility and refuses to fail like NASA. The appearance of Donald Glover was a delight because Rich may come off quirky, but he felt the most logical with his pitch. Had it not worked, rescuing Watney would've taken much longer and there would be no guaranteed how long he'd last after sol 561. Lastly, I wasn't so crazy about Kristen Wiig as NASA's media relations director Annie Montrose, but in her given time, she had me convinced that she is a high powered yet competent person. You know despite loving this film more than expected, it doesn’t mean it had no flaws which I noticed when re watching. Like for instance, Mark does think fast when stapling his wound, but why didn’t he have it ready before pulling out the broken antenna piece? He’s gonna get it out either way, but it sounds smarter if he did it when actually prepared. And I do love that they got the Ares III got recorded episodes of Happy Days to occupy the team, but is that really the only show they were allowed to watch? If it is, then that sucks because I would’ve begged for multiple choices like Star Trek before going to Mars. It also made me wonder why didn’t Mark and the rest of the team have music recommendations. I don’t want to hate on Lewis’ taste but if her recommendations were the only ones allowed, that just sucks. It is funny when Mark when runs out of ketchup, but that honestly could’ve been avoided if he saw him put good use of salt, pepper and/or olive oil. It does get smart that he uses Johanssen’s laptop, but why the hell did it not have a password to log in? There is no way she trusted her team so much that she wouldn’t have password. Another weird thing was how the Hermes had the right calculations to reach Mark, yet they don’t after seven months. I know we need one last obstacle for the protagonist to be saved, but I don’t think it was clear on why exactly the calculations no longer held up. Other than that, this movie is still awesome. In conclusion, The Martian earns its Best Picture Oscar nomination for being the most fascinating sci fi film of the year, being the perfect balance of fiction & non fiction. I recommend this film for those who need motivation to take their minds to the horizons they desire.
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