The Martian
Dir: Ridley Scott
2015
****
Andy Weir's 2011 Best Selling novel The Martian was meticulously researched, as you'd expect from the son of a particle physicist with a history of computer science and a love of all things Sci-fi. The reason his debut novel was such a success is that it seems extremely plausible, the science behind the story is theoretically possible, giving the overall story an overwhelming sense of realism. Geeks, nerds and film fans in general, the one thing we can all agree on is that when making a space movie, if you're not going to make an all out fantasy, then you have got to make it as realistic as possible, otherwise it is either all about the empty emotional manipulation or it will seem clinical, like a bad episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation whereby intelligent thinking (script-writing) is replaced with nonsensical alien tech-speak. Of course, there is actually no such thing as a bad episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation but I digress. Ridley Scott clearly understood the appeal of the novel and directed an appropriate adaption accordingly. However, the realism is breached somewhat when, on more than one occasion, the cameraman can be seen in the reflective visor of Matt Damon's helmet. This is my biggest criticism of the film, I can overlook it to a point but for a director of Ridley Scott's Calibre I have to say I found it shocking. The rest of the film is joyous. Most of the usual cliches found in space films are gone, a few remain and indeed, the only part of the film that isn't in the book, the last and pretty much only action sequence, looks like it was intended more as an iconic image, the image people would most remember, The Martian's 'Tears in the Rain' scene if you will (or a young Bread delivery Boy riding his bike down Dorset's Gold Hill for fans of Ridley's non-sci-fi work). I do wonder whether crowds of people would actually gather in large public spaces to watch global events such as a rescue mission in space, it's never happened so Hollywood might be right but I'm pretty sure Londoners wouldn't congregate in Trafalgar square to watch an 'international' rescue attempt while waving large banners with 'USA' written on them. Although it has to be said, for all of the realism in story, the characters are a little bit cliche. It seems Hollywood still believes that the greatest minds on the planet have difficulties on a social level and have untidy offices and/or bedrooms and that all astronauts are young and beautiful. That said, all performances are good and a few are above average. I don't want to sound unkind as I think everyone did a good job but as good as Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Kate Mara and Sean Bean were, the truth is I can think of countless actors who could have done the same if not better. Jeff Daniels I thought was particularly good and I would say that it is Chiwetel Ejiofor who delivers the film's great performance but overall, it is the supporting actors that really made the film. I think Benedict Wong's minor role in the film is extremely important as he really glues the story together and Aksel Hennie seems to be the only person able to act without dialogue, which is pretty important when you're floating around in a space-suit with next to no script. The physical performance from both actors, Wong's expression and what Hennie says with just his eyes is where the film's real strength lies, I'm afraid a few of the other performances from some of the a-list actors are misplaced and can be somewhat distracting. It's fair to say I tend to closely analyse films that strive to be more real, many of the faults I found can be overlooked and the truth is I hope that Hollywood and other filmmakers take note that intelligent sci-fi can exist without endless action sequences, misguided attempts at comedy or unconvincing romantic sub-plots. The use of narrative is particularly clever, two very different styles of filming are used but both work exceptionally well together. In many respects it's a film well ahead of the game, it just forgets the basics here and there.