A distant cousin of Gravity and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, THE MARTIAN directed by Ridley Scott is an engaging and visually appealing movie. Though it is not an epic one just like the two movies mentioned, still The Martian has enough fun element, humour and is an entertaining film on all counts except for the tolerable level of lagness in the post interval portions.
Red planet is the focus point here. A strong storm forces NASA on Mars to abort their mission leaving the planet assuming that one of their astronaut Mark Watney is dead. But Mark was in fact alive and the film show the determination, coolness and survival of the protagonist fighting to survive the toughest situation one can land in. There is only a slight chance for Mark to survive as he has only limited supply of food and water available with him. Also it will take almost four years for another mission to land up in Mars again to rescue him. NASA meanwhile is planning to get something from their side as a rescue operation. How he can manage the situation through planning and an optimistic approach is his headache now.
Lot of humour and fun is added that makes the film lively at many places. Its the second half that lags but the way the rescue team plan and operate their mission for getting Mark is portrayed brilliantly on screen by Ridley Scott and his screenplay. So the climax portions are highly engaging compensating for the lagness in the early part of the second half.
The determination with which Mark Watney survive the ordeal with a cool and tension free mind is portrayed remarkably well by Matt Damon. He has in fact single handedly taken the film forward as the film’s screen presence for majority of its running time is devoted to the actor and he has done the role with such perfection that he makes the audience connect with his character very quickly. His emotional breakdown when he learn that he can now hope to return soon to the earth was really touching.
There isn’t much of a supporting from rest of the actors but Jessica Chastain as the Commander of the Aries 3 Mission was good in her role. Chiwetel Ejiofor nicely portrayed his character quite well while rest of the crew doesn’t figure prominently in the screenplay having to content with limited screen presence.
Technically, The Martian stand out. Cinematography and background score gave the film another feel while visual effects and three dimensional view gave our eyes the complete picture of the Red Planet and made it look real.
Overall, here is a smart and witty survival movie that makes for a compelling watch. Matt Damon’s performance, original screenplay, VFX and above all the determination and cool handling of a tough and no hope situation makes The Martian as a good movie to put your money on. I am going with three and a half out of five for this space saga and a thumbs up to Ridley Scott.