A Return to Form for Two Greats

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2015)

Both Matt Damon and Ridley Scott had been stuck in some sort of slump in recent years, and some wondered if ether would set their storied careers back on track. With Damon being thought of as a has been star, and with Scott being woefully inconsistent with his recent projects, I'm pleased to say that The Martian brings two greats of the film industry back into the forefront.
The premise of this film starts off almost immediately. Botanist Mark Watney(Damon) is thought to be dead after a violent Mars storm rumbles its way into the NASA research base that Watney and his crew are conducting their scientific mission. Only he is still alive, and must find a way to not only contact his crew, but figure out how he is going to survive for the 4 years it will take for NASA to come back with an extraction team. So within the first 5 minutes of this film, we are thrown right into the thick of Mark Watney's desperate fight for survival.
Some people who have seen this film have basically stated that The Martian is just Apollo 13 meets Cast Away. While this film does do a fantastic job of distinguishing itself from other survival stories, it is mainly Apollo 13 meets Cast away, only its on Mars and Tom Hanks is no where to be found. But what separates The Martian from many other survival stories, is how warm hearted and humorous this film is. So many other films like this are dull, depressing and sometimes void of all hope till the vary end, when an opportunity arises for the protagonist to want to save their lives. From start to finish, Mark Watney has this drive inside him, that even in the most seemingly hopeless situations, he finds a way to crack a joke, and to stay positive at all times.
Matt Damon is absolutely brilliant. The Martian is easily his finest role since The Departed. You constantly laugh at his jokes, you are rooting for him to make it home, and you feel for him when he is starting to break down and go through his emotions. Most importantly, you care about his character and because of this, the audience gets sucked right on in for the ride. They become fully committed and invested into what is unfolding before their eyes and what is unfolding is one of the best Sci-Fi films of the year and one of Ridley Scott's best work in a long, long time.
Besides Damon's amazing performance, The Martian boasts a loaded cast of A-listers. Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain, Micheal Pena and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Ejiofor in particular reminds all of us, why he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor and I have no doubt that he will one day, walk away with that award in the future. Not one actor gave a bad performance, not one. Every character was likable, even the CEO of NASA (Daniels) who is supposed to be the corporate boss we are all supposed to hate, we end up understanding why he makes the decisions he does throughout, and the film makes us think about what we would do if we had to make the difficult decisions that he is responsible for in his position.
Lastly, the visuals, because my goodness, what a well shot, well crafted and gorgeous film this is. I would love to find out where this film was shot because if they aren't on an actual set piece somewhere on earth, then the CGI in The Martian is absolutely breathtaking. This, besides Mad Max: Fury Road, is by far the most stunningly beautiful movie of the year. So many times I was in awe of how majestic the sand blew i the wind, or how the sun reflected off of Damon's helmet, or even how something so simple as a close up shot of a budding plant screams of magic and life. Simply put, you will feel like you never blinked the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes of run time.
The Martian is a return to form for two aging greats in Hollywood. Its easily the best Sci-Fi film of 2015 and arguably the best in the past 3 years. The CGI was crisp and amazing, the cast was incredible, all with fantastic and memorable performances, the story although extremely basic, has more meat and weight to it then most survival stories. The Martian is an absolute must see, without any shadow of doubt, and when you walk out, you will be begging to come back and see it again.