I was rooting for him BIG TIME (even knowing the novel it was based on) exactly thanks to the likability of the character. You do see him under great stress and in fear in several sequences. Fuck "grit". The novel was a blast because, despite going up against all odds, the main character never lost his humor. If I want to see a serious version of this set-up, I'll just go watch Gravity again.

Huh?

Just because his character is brilliant (I mean, why does this seem to upset you? He's a botanist and an astronaut) doesn't mean there are no stakes. He's trapped alone on Mars! If that's not high stakes, I don't know what is.

As Lecter said, Gravity is about overcoming one's fear in an impossible situation. The Martian is about keeping a positive attitude (and ingenuity) in an impossible situation. Similar themes but very different films.

It is almost amazing how much the film normalizes and demystifies the red planet. It hardly feels exotic or dangerous. There is never a sense of, "Holy shit, he is alone on Mars! The only person on this entire planet."

And the problem with this genius is how dull the rhythm of the film becomes:

1. Problem.

2. He considers it for a second.

3. Captain Planet knows what to do! He also has a quip ready!

Science can be slow, arduous, beset by failures on the road to triumph, etc. The protagonist here just instantly knows what to do nearly every time. He almost never has to bang his head against the wall or have a painful night of the soul before deciding his next step.

What is dull to you, feels very energetic to most. And I really appreciate it not actually mystifying Mars or making it seem exotic. It just isn't.

What I meant was the stakes felt very low. Granted, it might be better executed in the book which I still haven't read, but not once did I ever think the guy was really in any serious trouble. I agree that getting stuck on Mars possibly forever is fucking terrifying and should be high stakes enough, but it never feels that way IMO. For the most part Matt Damon's character was a pretty resourceful guy and while I understand having a positive attitude is also very important in these types of situations I would have liked if he showed a bit more vulnerability atleast. The closest we got was the scene at the beginning where he gets injured and has to stich himself up and the of course the final rescue mission towards the end which was a good scene, but like Steve said it falls somewhat flat. Damon's character just wasn't all that interesting to me honestly and while it's fun watching him say or do witty/sciency things it does get a bit boring after a while and the overall bland direction doesn't help either.

We have never gone there in the flesh. It is big news when, say, water is discovered there. Mars is still Mars. It is not just another place.

And thanks for, uh, explaining subjectivity to me, lol.

Unfortunately didn't finish the book before seeing the movie (I'll still finish it though). The film is very good but I wasn't entirely thrilled with the whole package, surprised it's so universally praised. I think I need to process the film more.

A.

Juts wonderful

With The Martian, director Ridley Scott has escaped the doldrums in which he has been stuck for the past several years, and he has delivered his strongest film since his preferred cut of Kingdom of Heaven. Allaying my initial fears that the lauded names in front of and behind the camera would adopt a more serious tone at the expense of Andy Weir's wry spins on the survival adventure subgenre, the final product strikes a winning balance between lighthearted irreverence and armrest-gripping tension. It's rare that a film can blend two seemingly contradictory tonal elements to strong effect, but this film accomplishes it thanks to the consistently savvy choices of Scott and screenwriter Drew Goddard. With such versatility in tone, it's all-too-appropriate that Matt Damon, one of the most versatile actors working today, is so good in the title role. Damon's charisma and just-about-perfect delivery of gallows humor makes him all too easy to watch for the stretches in which he is the only person onscreen, but he also pushes himself to subtle yet resonant emotional depths whenever the gravity of his predicament hits him. The rest of the cast is solid as well, but it's not altogether surprising that no one else has the requisite screen time or development to steal the show from Damon (in fact, one of my few very minor quibbles with the film is that I would like to have seen more preliminary development of the crew so that their sense of camaraderie is clearer when the inciting incident occurs). On beyond the success of the story, it's also a fantastic film to look at. While its technological accomplishments are not as impressive as genre-mates Gravity and Interstellar, it does evoke a startling sense of vastness with its Mars scenery, and it makes easily the most impressive use of native 3D since Life of Pi (although it's admittedly not quite up to that film's level of immersion in the format). I had very high hopes going in, and unlike Scott's recent efforts, it nearly-completely fulfilled them.

A-

gfy

give us our scores god damnit

B+, even though it is very good on its own, I can't help but feel disappointed that it didn't reach the heights of Interstellar and Gravity.

I had a great time with The Martian. A great supporting cast, gorgeous visuals and Matt Damon being the best Matt Damon he can be kept this rolling for the two and a half hour run time. The film's sense of humor adds to the breezy pacing, never letting the movie become too melancholic despite the severity of his situation. Because of this, every setback seems overwhelming, and every victory momentous. I got all emotional every time he took a step forward to surviving. It may not have the visual power of Gravity, but it never lets it heart get frozen. This movie romanticizes realistic space travel more than any I've seen and everything else fits in so well because of it.

Definitely top 5 for 2015 and Ridley Scott's career. And for once, we don't need an extended edition!!

I definitely had a lot of fun with this and everyone in the cast does a great job. Ridley Scott continues to use 3D impressively and I can't wait to see where he goes with the format from here. Although it was a minor role, I really liked seeing Mackenzie Davis in this and hope she gets more roles in some big films soon as she has the potential to be a big name I feel.

The Martian

Perhaps it is just me, but Mark Watney's jovial commentary is not endearing at all. Pair that with his ability to solve EVERY problem he is faced with, and it just makes him appear arrogant. The film was also not very interesting. I know they wanted us to marvel at his genius, but I wasn't wowed by his inventions for survival in the slightest, due to his brags. "I'm a botanist, the best damn botanist to have ever lived, nobody is better than me, blah blah blah". It felt like every scene was a victory parade for Nasa, the USA, and Mark Watney, and yeah sure, the Chinese were given a glimpse of praise, and it is made by an Englishman, but the film is such a waving the stars-and-stripes feel good movie, and sadly I am not its intended audience. As usual with Ridley Scott films, there is an absence of character to the production. We just watch events unfold without being gripped by a complementing or unique score, cinematography, and editing. It is all very competent but it doesn't have its own style (unlike Interstellar or Oblivion).

Ok, so what did I like? Well, I'm not really sure. The Mars landscape scenes were nice, and the idea of being the only man on a planet is awesome, but I could have done without his constant summations of how he can now call himself a pirate or how if you grow a plant first anywhere you can claim it as your own. I liked how they never show Mark's family. It isolated him even more, which was a good technique. And I liked Sean Bean, as always. And the Asian-American was cool. I can't say the rescue of Watney wasn't satisfying either, because it was (the Iron Man stuff was fun to watch), but I could have done without the control room cheering at the sound of his voice after he regains consciousness and again when they finally know he is safe on Chastain's spaceship thingy. I don't know, but it felt cheesy and unnecessary - especially when you have Daniels and co. constantly looking and nodding at each other in the control room as if to say "we're good, we know it". Funny because the only reason Watney came home alive is because of the Chinese.

What I didn't like was how damn easy he had it. He never really endured any hardship. Sure, something blew up here and there, but you never truly get the sense that he isn't going to know how to solve it all. And he specifically never came under any psychological pressure - it all seemed super simple, and basically a joke (bar the occasional "shit" and "fuck" as if he just stubbed his toe at home). I just could not root for him. Or Jeff Daniels. Or Jessica Chastain. None of them felt like three-dimensional characters apart from Mark, and he was just too cocky to care for. At no point did I worry that Mark may not make it. It was empty in that regard (unlike Gravity which ramped the fear up to 11). Oh, and Michael Pena was annoying yet again.

For all of my complaints, it was a watchable film, and nothing angered me - just a few niggles that didn't allow me to warm to it as many have done.

C

We're still gonna get one, 20 minutes longer.

I FUCKING LOVED IT.

A

He didn't have it easy. He made it easy. A normal person would have crumbled, but Mark used his spirit and intellect to survive. Instead of going desperate, he used logic to no end. I enjoyed the shit out of his discoveries and take on things.

Glad someone else noticed it too, I thought she was great, but I thought as much of the whole cast. Especially Wiig surprised me too, she was good and kept up with the rest of a more acclaimed cast which I didn't expect.

Ridley Scott also turned in one of his best works.

Well, there's a surprise. stuffp agrees with everyone again.

Either way you paint it, he still had it easy, which doesn't make for a gripping film. Watching someone solve every problem thrown at them without even a second of deliberation or worry doesn't allow the audience to care or feel for your main character - so Scott relies very much on Mark's jolly quips to warm the audience toward him, but it was just arrogance. Let's take another similar film, Cast Away. Also an intelligent man, but he did not have it easy. He had no fucking idea what to do, and largely just tried his luck until things worked. Instantly gripped, and I love that film. The Martian will be forgotten by January.

Or will win Best Picture

Also the film has a very natural 3D performance, I didn't even notice I was wearing the glasses, but I must also say that it's a film that doesn't need 3D to make you feel part of it.

Ah, yes, you're a bandwagon jumper. I almost forgot.

It's a visual marvel, from the landscape of Mars to the spacecrafts, I definitely wasn't expecting a level at Gravity levels of visual effects impressiveness

But I was pretty bored. Part of it was probably I watched it in suboptimal conditions on a small screen and I was feeling tired, but something was missing. I could only make it halfway through the Weir novel because the writing was too much from a clearcut amateur for me to take, in a way the film almost goes too much in the other direction. This is just so POLISHED, between the visuals, always having the right piece of dialog, music, etc. that it almost feels too neat and tidy. What Watney does to survive frequently comes off as easy. One moment he has no food and is seemingly doomed, but because he's a botanist, it takes what feels like a minute of hurdle-less montage before he has steady crops. Multiple trips across the face of Mars come and go without much danger. Short of one hair burning explosion turning hydrogen into oxygen goes almost exactly as planned. Getting to key pieces of equipment such as the Pathfinder or a radioactive heater is quick work. The Hermes crew has to decide whether to pay the huge individual price of risking their own life, spend a year and a half more of it in best case scenario, and commit career suicide and for a few possibly go to jail to save Mark Watney, and yet the decision plays as if it's not a difficult one at all, for them it's a no brainer to go for Mark. And so forth. The film had the humour and old school Hollywood sentimentality of one that would embrace entertaining its audience instead of getting stuffy with existential dread, but lacked something in the elemental, emotional core to actually do it. Its Hollywood blockbuster-isms are more like a style choice on the surface but for me in an empty way.

This isn't as good as Gravity, which had me excited for the entirety of its runtime. But it is a bit better than Interstellar. The parts on Earth were more interesting than the parts on Mars; I never really felt like Mark was in any danger, but I enjoyed watching the political stuff between the people at NASA. Most of the characters have too little to do, but the standouts for me were Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, and Kristen Wiig, who plays a very different character from what she usually does. The film is too long, but it mostly entertains, though the way it went from "4 years to rescue him" to "868 days" to "500 some days" to "400 some days" was a bit convenient. And Matt Damon's weight loss CGI looked obvious. But I enjoyed it, it was fun.

B