Well orchestrated and balanced for a wide appeal

Rating: 9/10 (24 June 2017)

There's so much that works in this motion picture you have to hand the biggest laurel wreath to the great Ridley Scott - director extraordinaire - top of the podium. Then next of prominence is the charisma of Matt Damon, even though he's not given a great deal to work with and who's head's inside a goldfish bowl half the time - but hey that's all in a great actor's stride. Damon's like the plucky astronaut - he manages his lengthy confinement with a cocky smile. There's a suite of good actors supporting - Jessica Chastain is great as the sinewy redheaded mission commander, there a side-line in pathos and earthiness from the great Yorkshireman Sean Bean. I've just seen him doing a great working class parish priest in the drama Broken - he's doing similar here as a lonely voice of conscience. There's the energy of Michael Peña, vulnerability of boss Jeff Daniels, anyway lots of talent. There's funky music that works perfectly. The story is science-based and quite technical and the visual effects stunning so it's got a realism and credibility to it. It's just short of the 10/10 I just gave The Informants! where Matt Daman was given more of a blank cheque to strut his stuff. Ultimately there's just a tad of a lack of a certain depth and drama, a gap in a certain something that was perhaps sacrificed for that overall broadly entertaining package. It's no Tarkovsky's Solaris and no existentialist masterpiece, but its a darn-well executed sci-fi yarn that covers a fair demographic spread of appeal. It's one to recommend to anyone even vaguely interested in space and technology, and well, who isn't?