Boring, unemotional, but beautiful.

Rating: 6/10 (1 October 2015)

The Martian is another big budgeted blockbuster by Ridley Scott, who I like the call, the hit or miss director. I loved all of his classic films, and who doesn't right? I loved Prometheus, and the underrated Kingdom of Heaven, but lately, he's been a bit off. I don't think this will be the flop that Exodus was; because it is more catered to the casual moviegoer of all ages. Exodus was messy at times because it was the product of an entire group of people, rather than the single vision of Ridley Scott. I think Ridley did a fine job with this film as far as pacing goes and directing, but the writing was iffy and juvenile at times.
The script was an adaptation of a highly acclaimed novel, a novel that I never read but I have a feeling that the fans of the book will be disappointed because I just never felt bad for the main protagonist. Matt Damon's fantastic performance was not enough to save the film in my opinion. I think he'll be nominated for a best actor Oscar and he deserves to be. He was absolutely hilarious too, many of his lines were clearly improvised, but never once did I feel myself rooting for him. He was a character without back-story, without family, and without something to live for. He hardly lost a single pound of weight during his ordeal and the obstacles he faced did not produce any amount of tension at all. He had a lot of tools at his disposal, and the solutions to his problems were solved easily. He came off like a vacationer at a resort rather than someone in grave peril.
Most of the film was spent on NASA officials and their hypothetical solutions for the rescue mission. An entire hour was spent on the plan, and the plan B, and the plan C. As I watched, I kept saying to myself, "Just save him already!" The scientifically minded moviegoer will cherish these scenes, and at times, the solutions by the protagonist were clever, but there was nothing close to the wow factor of pseudo science. Natural elements, from gravity to sugar were used in creative ways, and the making of water from out of thin air was cool, but it all just felt like a science lesson. Some people might be wowed by it all, but I wasn't. What wowed me was the set design. Ridley Scott and his art directors are as good as they come. Visually speaking, this movie blows away anything seen on screen before, and that includes Interstellar, Prometheus and Gravity. The sets, props, and CGI were stunning.
But all in all a disappointing film. When I spend 12 dollars on a movie, I expect one or both of two things. For one, I want to be emotionally stimulated. This movie failed to do that for me. And if the film is labeled as science fiction, then I expect a clever script, a story that makes you think. This was far from an esoteric film and it was not on par with great survival films such as Cast Away or Alive either. If this were a film that was based on a true story, it would've had a bigger impact on me. But it's just a futuristic adventure story, unoriginal, and a boring one at that.
6 out of 10.