The Martian (it's not rocket science; until it's exactly that)

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2020)

Despite the isolation of the protagonist from the rest of the characters, action that is stretched out far too long, and the lack of more atmospheric shots, "The Martian's" witty script keeps the audience's interest alive in every scene. Space may be dangerous and intimidating, but the joy of scientific discovery and when things just work is addictive.
When a freak sandstorm injures him and forces his crew to evacuate, protagonist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) must use his resourcefulness and his persistence to his advantage and work on a way to get back home. The wittiness of this movie is brought about by Watney himself, and occasional remarks from Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who are back on earth. With the many remarks and jokes he makes throughout the film, despite the possibility that he will die alone on Mars, he keeps the audience entertained and willing to watch more. The soundtrack is also a definite plus, with ABBA's "Waterloo" and Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" giving the tone a slight facelift after some poor delivery of lines.
And back on earth, with the crew at NASA leading the charge, the world is setting their sights on helping Watney succeed and bringing him home alive.
As there's nobody there to talk to (because he's alone on an entire planet), Watney adapts to the way of constantly talking to himself or to multiple cameras that are constantly filming around the small space station. This eliminates what could have been lacking from the entire film by leaving the protagonist alone by himself for a long period of time without communicating with any other characters. By constantly glancing up at the central camera that was filmed with, Damon gives the audience the feeling that he's talking specifically to them and it gives this film a personal touch that's impossible to pass up.
Of course, not all movies are perfect. And there are definitely examples of flaws in this movie. One of them, the most noticeable and most detrimental to the movie as a whole, is how the action is played out. It's very dragged out and seems like it takes 15 minutes to get through a 5 minute scene of action. But I bet that Matt had a ton of fun flipping around for hours on end. Another flaw that's noticeable in this movie is the lack of shots in actual space. Compared to the classic space movie, like the movie "Gravity" and even movies like "Apollo 13", this movie barely has any shots of space; and the only ones are near the end of it. Most of the shots take place on a planet, whether it be Mars or Earth. This doesn't necessarily take anything away from the film as a whole. But, for a space movie, I would have loved to see more shots of space or at least something more atmospheric that would add something to the feel of this film. The formula of switching back and forth between three types of setting makes the film a little stale and slightly predictable. Every time I saw the scene on Earth wrapping up, I would always think: "I wonder what Mark's doing back on Mars? Farming some potatoes? Oh, ok."
Overall, I really liked this movie and would encourage you to go watch it.