Long Live Science-Fiction

Rating: 9/10 (4 November 2015)

Back from a talk from Astronaut Superstar, book author and musician Chris Hadfield in Jasper, Canada where he mentioned the movie as having some of the science and feel right, I am glad I got to see this in immersive IMAX 3D. Not only did it get that right, but more importantly the love for science and science-fiction back like what Hadfield has been able to do with social media and space.
Ridley Scott pioneered sci-fi movie-making 3 decades ago with Blade Runner (1982) and Alien (1979) both major entries in the genre. I however found he hit his prime as a director in 2001 (not Kubrick's landmark sci-fi adaptation) with action "Black Hawk Down" and thriller/horror "Hannibal" after his Oscar-heavy "Gladiator" hit of 2000. Body of Lies (2008) was his return to form with a twisted tight thriller and to a lesser degree American Gangster (2007) also starring Russell Crowe.
Now "The Martian" may - should!- get Oscar attention with possible acting, directing, visual effects, sound, editing, cinematography, screenplay and best picture nominations. The screenplay is a wonderful, witty, humane and humorous adaptation of Andy Weir's novel by Drew Goddard who wrote sci-fish Cloverfield and some fantasy TV show episodes.
Scott's directing is a great mix of tension, humour, action and crisp narrative. Pietro Scalia made good editing choices that sets this apart from Interstellar's long moments and even if it lacks the vision of Interstellar (2014) it makes it up in ingenuity, laughter and levity making the most of humanity, space and science current frontiers. It exploits the explorer spirit with the human and technical challenges necessary to overcome again and again.
From the brisk bang-for-your-buck beginning to the engaging ending with every twist and turn in between, this is a compelling and moving movie that you don't really want to end. Matt Damon is the perfect marooned man on Mars with positivism and sarcasm. His crew-mates and the ground staff are also great characters and supporting actors. The balanced cast is like the editing, enough to keep your attention, keep you guessing and engaged.
The storytelling has classic elements of recurring themes and jokes coupled with situations that compound difficulties to be surmounted. The triumph is not only in the story but in the importance of facing these improbable odds as individuals and as a species to surmount space's difficulties. We cannot help but go along readily with the ride and follow the fortuitous and fateful out of this world journey.
Early this year I saw the small and smart UK offering Ex Machina (2015) from a nation that is getting good sci-fi out finally. With sublime lesser-known "OXV: The Manual" and "The Machine" also from the UK to US heavy hitters "Gravity" and "Star Trek Into Darkness", 2013 was a great sci-fi year. Now coupled with Interstellar (2014) and The Martian (2015) as big back-to-back year blockbusters, we can only hope for a revival of the best of this imaginative genre that was made for movies. In fact, I hoped for a movie like this in my Interstellar review almost to the date (release date) last year!
Yesterday announced the go-ahead for a New Star Trek series slated for 2017, on top of the 2016 & 2019 movies. Next month will be the first of the much anticipated Star Wars trilogy with Disney and JJ at the helm. 2017 and 2019 will follow and maybe 2 spin offs. Add awaited Avatar sequel trilogy 2017, 2018 & 2019 from James Cameron. All that aside, most importantly the Blade Runner remake is in pre-production with a finished script as we speak to make sure we are back into the Science-Fiction era!! It will be in the capable hands of none other than other great Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve, currently finishing another sci-fi fare, tentatively titled Story of Your Life (2016).
I haven't felt this good since Deep Space Nine was on the air...
Now if only someone dared to adapt Asimov's Foundation series to screen...
Cheers and happy sci-fi decade