Saving Private Watney

Rating: 5/10 (4 November 2015)

The Martian features an a-list cast with acclaimed director Ridley Scott at the helm. Together they bring Andy Weir's best selling novel of the same name to the big screen. Matt Damon plays overly optimistic Mark Watney who unfortunately gets stranded on Mars after a horrific storm leaves him abandoned and presumed dead by his fellow astronauts. As depicted in the trailer, Matt Damon's character is faced with the near impossible predicament of having to survive on Mars with limited food supply while also trying to find a way to contact NASA for a rescue mission. With that in mind one could reasonable expect exciting set pieces with peril at every turn while combining dramatic intensity with clever comic relief. However, The Martian simply failed to live up to these expectations and was mostly a disappointment.
Now what exactly made this so disappointing? Firstly, Matt Damon's character failed to bring any seriousness given his situation of inevitable doom. His character seemed so upbeat which did add to the comedic effect of the film but it was just so overdone it took away from the movie being dramatic and intense. Though Matt Damon did a good job portraying his character, the overly gleeful Watney just simply was not the right fit to make this movie dramatic. All of this added up to the film being so unrealistically upbeat that nothing bad seemed likely to happen to Watney's life resulting in the climax of the movie to be unexciting and quite predictable. Also it took away from the empathy one should feel for the character. So if anything unexpected did happen one would not really care about Watney's fate.
The Martian failed at trying to skillfully blend comedy with an exciting survival story. Also the movie lacked excitement. There really were no memorable scenes given the film's location and dangerous landscape. The film solely relied on how Watney was going to survive, how he was going to contact earth, and how earth would respond to his situation. Honestly all these events portrayed looked exciting in the trailer but just ended up being tedious and uneventful.
Now what exactly did The Martian do right? One of the positives of the movie was its intellect. The intellect behind the writing was arguably one of the best parts of this film which helped redeem it a bit. Also, as expected, the film featured some pretty good special effects. It mimicked the realism of space in a very accurate and practical manner. Unfortunately for The Martian, its special effects were overshadowed by the wondering spectacle of Gravity and the sheer beauty of Interstellar. Lastly, given the talent within the cast, the film was destined for great performances, particularly those of Matt Damon, lead through Ridley Scott's masterful direction.
In short, The Martian disappointed through its lack of excitement, intensity, memorable scenes, empathy for the character, and its failed attempt at trying to blend comedy with drama. I would only recommend to scientists, and space nerds who would actually be interested in seeing how someone would survive on a different planet. I would not buy this and it is definitely not a good 3D or IMAX experience. Still waiting for Ridley Scott to make that awesome movie we have not seen in over a decade! 6/10