The Martian

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2015)

The Martian is one of my favorite novels, and I had the fear that its homonym film adaptation wouldn't reach the amazing details of the book, its accessible handling of complex scientific concepts and, specially, the main character's pleasant "voice", who we end up knowing intimately after sharing years of his thoughts and emotions. On some way, my fears were correct; screenwriter Drew Goddard necessarily summarizes the premise and sacrifices many situations which seemed indispensable on the written page; but what we have is still a fascinating tale about touching tenacity and triumph of the human spirit. It doesn't matter whether the main character lives or dies... what matters is the fact that he never gives up. I'm not going to point out the differences between the book and the film; I'm sure there will be many articles about that on the Internet, analyzing and comparing both exhaustively. I will just mention that, on the beginning, the screenplay of The Martian feels a bit rushed. But that's a minor complaint which doesn't darken the many pros from this film, such as the excellent performances from the whole cast, highlighting Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain and, specially, Matt Damon as the eponymous "martian", who perfectly managed to balance his character's optimistic personality with his fear and occasional discouragement. Ridley Scott's direction is brilliant, and the special effects transport us to Mars with an impressive realism and scientific discipline. I also have to point out the fact that there isn't any fantasy or science fiction in The Martian (with the exception of the existence of crewed missions to Mars). In other words, don't expect any aliens or space battles; just an excellent tale about heroic human beings with the powers of science and determination. And a good sense of humor in order not to get mad into the loneliness of the red planet. Where's Dejah Thoris when you need her?