So Science-y.

Rating: 2/10 (14 October 2015)

This movie is so science-y. You will just love how much it quotes science. Like, you know, real science. And that is why I loved this movie. Science tells us that everything in it is totally possible. Anybody who doesn't like this movie must be anti-science. Because science rules. It's like Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye had a love child. And Carl Sagan.
But don't just go for all the science. The story is so unique. I know Matt Damon just famously played a brilliant NASA astronaut who got stranded on a planet in the movie Interstellar, and that Jessica Chastain was also in that one, but it is not like Interstellar at all (what was with that weird ending, anyway??). The Martian has its own unique plot centered around a team of brilliant NASA scientists in Houston trying to get their astronauts home after a difficult journey that had to be cut short, but it is not like Apollo 13. Sure, in both movies they don't have enough fuel, and there is an explosion on board, and they have to use this brilliantly hatched scheme to use gravitational pull to propel them. But get this: while Apollo 13 had its astronauts being propelled around the moon, The Martian has them going around Earth! Science says that the earth is way bigger than the moon, which makes this way cooler. Nope, not at all like the entire movie Apollo 13. Oh, and also, there is a great part at the end that made me feel just like I was watching Gravity again. You'll know the part when you see it. But really it is nothing like Gravity.
It is so funny through the whole movie when Matt Damon explains everything in minute detail as it happens. Such a brilliant choice by the writer and director. Exposition like that is so scientific because he has to know all those big words in order to explain everything. I can imagine all the anti-science global warming deniers' heads exploding at these parts, but if you're anything like me, you will find yourself nodding along and thinking, "Yep! I know what he's talking about!" Example: that moment he had to make his own water and he said, "Fortunately, I know the recipe. Take hydrogen. Add oxygen. Burn." So true!
Again, The Martian is a smart, complex movie. Luckily, in another brilliant choice by director Ridley Scott, title cards appear at the beginning of nearly every scene explaining where the action is taking place, and who is taking part in it. I found this extremely helpful, as it was a bit confusing when it would switch from Mars to Earth all the time. Plus, it was extremely gratifying when I would see a new character, and before I even had time to think who the heck is that, lo and behold, his or her name and title would appear to clear away all doubt.
Then there's the music: So many familiar tunes!
And I've been hearing a lot about perhaps the most quotable line of any movie for years—you know the line—let me just say it because it is so funny: "I'm gonna have to science the s*** out of this." --That is said by Matt Damon's character, Mark Watney, who is literally one of the smartest and most capable men ever. But as you can tell, he isn't all stuffy, you know? He is really funny. Can I just quote some more of his hilarious lines? I couldn't stop laughing the whole way through as he smugly said these things to the audience, I mean his camera:
"Hi, I'm Mark Watney and I'm still alive... obviously."
"I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the greatest botanist on this planet."
"Mars will come to fear my botany powers."
"So yeah, I'm f***ed."
"In your face, Neil Armstrong!"
"Tell Commander Lewis, disco sucks." "F***!"
"So I blew myself up."
"Mark Watney: Space Pirate."
"I admit it's fatally dangerous, but I'd get to fly around like Iron Man."
"F*** you, Mars."
Anyway, he is hilarious as you can tell, and this movie definitely deserves all the praise it is getting for its humor alone. You will just love this.
Ten/Ten "Stars" (Get it?)