Bring Him Home

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2015)

After the past two years with Gravity and Interstellar coming out, two of the greatest sci-films in history in my opinion, I was eagerly awaiting the next huge space sci-fi epic. Along comes The Martian with one of the best ensembles of the year and a sci-fi genius in Ridley Scott directing. A story about a man stranded on Mars after his crew assumed he was dead and you get Matt Damon to play the lead? Count me in. The verdict? I really liked The Martian. It's really funny, highly entertaining, and beautiful to look at, but I wasn't blown away.
Matt Damon is more than worth the price of admission. For most of the film, he has pretty much no one to act off of, which is something I think people are overlooking. The ensemble back home and his crew on their way back carry a load of screen-time, but this is Matt Damon's movie. Whether it's Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, or Michael Pena, the cast is on top of their game. I think where the film lacks is surprisingly its directing. I know it's based on a book, but there were plenty of scenes that I wish lasted longer but were short and vice versa. That's the case especially toward the end when I'm supposed to feel a rush of emotion, instead I felt letdown that I didn't get to see more of a scene. But the film does a great job of bringing to life scenes that should seem boring and dry. For example, all of the scientific centered exposition never feels overwhelming. That can be contributed to Ridley Scott's directing and Matt Damon's likability as an actor. That's one of the things The Martian does extremely well, it's really well paced in terms of entertainment level. You don't feel the length.
So perhaps it's more of editing issues instead of Scott's actual directing I had a problem with. Another thing that let me down was how little Damon's crew was in the film. That dynamic between all of them could have been explored whether it be flashbacks or just through the NASA message system. Especially when you have people like Jessica Chastain, it just seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity. No matter, The Martian still should most definitely be seen on the big screen. The Mars scenes alone are visually breathtaking. I don't know how much is green screen but I felt like I was on another planet. In terms of the special effects and CG, iv'e seen better. Again, we have been spoiled with space in film so I can acknowledge this film looks great. It just doesn't hold a candle to Interstellar or Gravity. But it's hard to pick apart this film. There really isn't much wrong with it, it just didn't blow me away like it did for others in the film community.
+Damon's Oscar worthy performance
+Mars has never looked better
+Humor
+Ensemble
-Underused supporting crew though
-CG has been better
8.3/10