If you solve enough problems, you get to come home

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2016)

Directed by Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien) from a screenplay by Drew Goddard (World War Z, The Cabin in the Woods) based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir, The Martian is one of the best hard-science scifi films to hit the screen in decades. Remarkably faithful to the novel and thoroughly engaging for its entire 144 minute length, this film is definitely worth taking in. It's also worth seeing on the big screen for the cinematography - courtesy of Dariusz Wolski (Pirates of the Caribbean, Prometheus) - particularly the vast Martian landscapes (Wadi Rum in Jordan) and the later scenes that take place up in space.
The film opens on Mars where we see the third manned Mars mission crew carrying out their duties. Their activities however are cut short by a sudden Martian sandstorm that shows up, a storm so severe that the mission is scrubbed and the crew must leave the planet. In the process of heading to the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) though, one of the mission crew, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is struck by a piece of flying debris and blown away from the others, the debris piercing his suit in such a way that it damages the part of the suit that gives out his biometric readings and his location. Believing Watney to be dead and his body lost, and with the storm threatening to tip the MAV over at any moment, Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) reluctantly gives the order to take off. But, as Watney later gamely says in the film, "Surprise!" He's not dead. Seriously banged up, but very much alive. And very determined to stay that way.
That, however, is going to take a lot of doing. In his daily video log, Watney sums up his situation thusly: "If the oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst. If the Hab beaches, I'll just kind of implode. If none of those things happen. I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death." On top of all that, his only hope of rescue is the next Mars mission, which isn't scheduled to reach Mars for three years. And he needs to find a way to let NASA - and the rest of Earth - know that he's still alive. "In the face of overwhelming odds," he concludes, "I'm left with only one option: I'm gonna have to science the _sh*t_ out of this." And that's what makes the rest of the movie.
There are of course scenes where the action jumps to NASA on Earth as they discover first that Watney might have survived, then confirm that he is alive, and then start to figure out what they can do to get him home. And other scenes where the action jumps to the spaceship Hermes where the other members of the Ares 3 mission are making their way back to Earth, still thinking that Watney died on Mars.
Aside from Scott's smooth, sure-handed direction and Goddard's nicely-paced screenplay, it's the excellent cast of actors that really make The Martian work. Some valid questions have been raised about certain casting decisions where the ethnicity of the actor doesn't match the character, but in truth the choices made don't get in the way of the how the film comes across as the actors in question were all fine actors. Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom, Gettysburg) is in fine dry form as Teddy Sanders, the Director of NASA who has to balance the life of one lone astronaut against the safety and morale of the returning Ares 3 crew, while figuring out how best to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of mounting an actual rescue and keeping Watney alive long enough for it to reach him. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) is quietly convincing as Commander Lewis who has to make a lot of hard choices to do what she feels is needed, and more than anyone else, to carry the weight of those decisions on her shoulders. Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) hits just the right tone as Annie Montrose, NASA's official spokesperson, who has to publicly keep things positive while personally knowing just how long the odds are. And Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings) is suitably stubborn as Mitch Henderson, the Hermes flight director who knows his people better than anyone and knows what they'd want to be told.
And of course there's Matt Damon (Invictus, Good Will Hunting) who manages the doubly difficult task of carrying fully half of the film's screen time while conveying both Watney's desperate situation and the quirky sense of humor that is a big part of what enables Watney to keep dealing with his situation without giving in to despair. This is no small thing. The humor in the book is a big part of what makes it such a good read, but reading and seeing on the big screen are two different things, and to make it work Damon has to bring out Watney's humor but keep the audience always aware of how vulnerable his situation is and never let things slip into outright comedy. I'm happy to say that Damon pulls off this delicate balance with a superb yet subtle performance, making Watney's quirky but resolute determination to survive the true heart of the film.
The musical score by Harry Gregson-Williams (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) has just the right touch, adding to the http://www.rlsscene.com/category/movies/ feel of what's unfolding on the screen but never overpowering or distracting from it.
Highly, highly recommended for anyone who likes action/adventure/scifi in general and especially for anyone who likes their scifi realistic and believable. And for anyone who remembers what it was like when the space program captivated the world with Neil Armstrong taking "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and Apollo 13's "Houston, we've had a problem."