[2/5] simple, feel good movie with a lot of unexplored, interesting ideas

Rating: 4/10 (17 October 2015)

RE: a friend calling The Martian a veritable, American masterpiece.
What about the false ease concerning mathematical and scientific computation? That scene when boss man tells JPL they have half the time they thought they would and then goes into a comedic exposition about how he'll say it can't be done but then he will—it was funny but not true to the difficulty of engineering, I thought. You don't see the man hours either. It's stupidly dumbed down for the audience and while that may drain its mass popularity, it's the selling point of the film and book. I was excited for a true engineering movie but what I got was a word bank of engineering jargon spewed at me and then some problem fixed *snap*.
Or how there's no sense of isolation? Even before he makes contact, we get shots from his camera over his shoulder, and it's like someone's watching him. Oh, and he's always talking to the video diary, us. No one is with him but the switching between scenes on Earth and Mars make Mars less distant. Moreover, Ridley doesn't explore the mental psychosis of a man "stuck out there. He thinks he's totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man's psychology? I wonder what he's thinking right now." Yes, he mentions it but he doesn't expand on it. And what about this unexplored gem, "Everywhere I go, I'm the first. Step outside the rover? First guy ever to be there! Climb a hill? First guy to climb that hill! Kick a rock? That rock hadn't moved in a million years! I'm the first guy to drive long-distance on Mars. The first guy to spend more than thirty-one sols on Mars. The first guy to grow crops on Mars." Did you get any sense of wonder or exploration?!? I did not.
Or lack of stakes? To its credit, the night he walks back into the base after patching the door with a tarp is tensing but did you ever actually feel as though the mission was going to fail? Pardon my meanness, but what is Matt Damon's character even living for? No love interest or children and a "thankfulness" towards his parents. I'm not saying his life, or any character without "love", is meaningless but they are lacking in emotion. Had he at the very least rattled off a bucket list, I would have felt more emotionally involved. Matt Damon did an exceptional job of squeezing every ounce of emotion to make us empathize with him because the character just isn't emotionally interesting.
And by god, another slight at ABBA and I'll kill someone. They made that stupid joke 10 times, the first time it landed but that was it. It had it's laughs, ie space pirate and colonizer of Mars, but at the same time, it wasn't hilarious. Just go through some quotes from the book (https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/21825181-the- martian) and look at all the missed opportunities.
What I will give The Martian is an appreciation for what astronauts and the like accomplish. I actually liked that China gave NASA their technology, that action did a nice job of highlighting the universal interest in science and not political agendas. Then there are two good scenes I must nod to: when Matt Damon's character decides to shave his beard before being reacquainted with his team, a nod of the human need to be presentable in society, and visually, the belt/ ribbon tangle near the end. Big fan of the set designs as well, especially the base on Mars and Ares 3 but are tragically... unexplored.
Overall, a 2/5, simple, feel good movie with a lot of unexplored, interesting ideas.