Out of this world
A very compelling, down-to-earth tale of human survival unfolds on the red planet
Give Ridley Scott a great story and even the sky is no limit.
And The Martian isn’t just an excellent yarn. It’s one of the year’s best movies and widescreen 3D experiences, a crackerjack adventure that celebrates human ingenuity over mechanical contrivance.
This triumphant return to outer space for Scott, who directed Alien and Prometheus, adapts the best-selling novel by Andy Weir, which began as a self-published ebook. (The screenplay is by Drew Goddard, co-writer of the ingenious horror thriller The Cabin in the Woods.)
Matt Damon’s stranded Mars astronaut Mark Watney also has to employ do-it- yourself strategies if he hopes to survive. He’s alone, but not forlorn, after a sixperson expedition to the red planet led by Jessica Chastain’s Commander Lewis has to make an emergency evacuation.
Lost in a dust storm, Watney is presumed dead. The shock of his miraculous survival quickly turns to sky-high suspense, as NASA and his crewmates contemplate a high-risk rescue mission, one that on paper could take years — unless they find a way to speed things up.
Houston has more than one problem. Politics and public relations also intrude, as the hardnosed NASA chief Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) considers the very real possibility that a failed rescue bid could result in six dead astronauts rather than one.
Watney must use his wits and science knowledge to buy time. NASA this week announced it has found water on Mars, which seems like a fantastic (and deliberate) promotion for the movie.
But that could actually detract from the exceedingly clever and scientifically accurate methods Watney employs to deal with urgent food and water issues.
One thing Watney’s not in short supply of is a great sense of humor, which Damon delivers in an A-OK performance that invites Oscar attention.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Sean Bean and Donald Glover (a.k.a. rapper Childish Gam- bino) join the stellar cast in a film that also gets the look of space travel right.
Spacecraft and spacesuits are based on NASA prototypes and Jordan’s otherworldly Wadi Rum region makes a convincing stand-in for the rugged desert terrain of Mars.
I call The Martian “real-fi” rather than “sci-fi,” because it’s so down-toearth in its realism, both on this blue planet and the distant red one. More than anything, though, it’s just a great time at the movies.