Potential not reached

Rating: 7/10 (28 September 2015)

Non-spoiler review. Having seen an early screening here in the UK, The MARTIAN was one of my most anticipated movies this year. Sci Fi is one of my favourite genres and its great we get a big budget space epic for the 3rd year in a row after Gravity and Interstellar before it. I wasn't a big fan of Ridley's last 2 movies Prometheus and Exodus Gods and Kings, both had great potential but failed to deliver. The MARTIAN unfortunately for me falls into the same zone. It is a better film no doubt than those 2 and the quality of characters /story is much more simpler and coherent but it doesn't reach the full potential I hoped it would. I have read a lot of comments from reviewers before watching it saying the film plays it safe and its clear to the viewer as the film progresses (I haven't read the book).
The premise of the plot is straightforward and easy to pick up and it provides the viewer with clear audible dialogue and exposition behind the motives of every action that Matt Damons character undertakes. The science behind the set pieces which form the pillars of the film are accessible to understand for the most part. The visuals are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, especially the terrain of Mars and some shots of the spaceship floating through space, I would say the 3d did enhance these scenes.
However without revealing spoilers, I just didn't become invested in the plot to care enough at the end. The film relies heavily on a formula which is pretty much, problem arises, problem solved, problem arises, problem solved, etc. There are 1 or 2 dues Ex machina moments which come out of the blue simply to drive the plot forward. In this sense the film starts becoming noticeably predictable as it runs its lengthy 2hr 15min course. I felt the dramatic moments on the script should have been focused more on how NASA and the crew debate the ethics of risking 6 astronauts and billions of dollars in space tech against the possibility of saving 1 stranded astronaut 50 million miles away. Overall it's an enjoyable movie, with dry humour and some neat moments throughout illustrated brilliantly by the acting of Matt Damon, but ultimately isn't the thrilling, edge of your seat, tension mounting space epic I was hoping it would be. For me Interstellar is the much better comparison and I would say Gravity is about par if not slightly better than The MARTIAN. Final rating 7/10.