What science is capable of.

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2016)

This felt sort of like it was based on a real event at some points, maybe because there are some stories you hear of in the news that are similar to it. A lot of people have compared the Martian to Castaway, and I was anticipating that it would resemble Castaway, but it really is closer to the Chilean miners that were trapped underground for two months back in 2010. It has some resemblances to certain sports films as well because the hopes of a vast number of people are resting on the success of the mission just as they are in the events of Invictus and Miracle. Saving Watney has significance to other people because it proves to them what an individual and a society can accomplish.
Science and technology are a pretty big part of the story. None of the science felt implausible to me, but of course I don't know that much about it. Considering the budget, I would guess that Ridley Scott was able to hire someone to check all the science, though Andy Weir may not have had that luxury with the book. If nothing else, the science and astrophysics were well explained. You understood why and how each setback was significant without needing a degree in physics. I would say that there is not an invincible character factor in play here, as Watney has several close calls along with things that go his way, but not in an unrealistic way like in 2012 or Furious 7. In some ways, it seems like a miracle that he survives everything, but he doesn't escape without a few bumps and bruises and life-threatening experiences.
There are a lot of characters, and most of them are easy enough to keep track of. You won't probably remember almost any of their names, but the actors are famous enough and the characters are distinct enough that you will remember most of them. I wasn't huge on how some of them were introduced with the superscript name and profession. The name wasn't gonna stick and neither it nor the profession or area of expertise were all that necessary for the audience to know. Also, using superscript is a bit of a cheap way out for introducing a character that I feel like a full-time screenwriter should be able to find alternatives to. There is not a true villain, unless you count the whole situation as the antagonist. So if you had to categorize the conflict, it would probably be man vs. nature and a bit of man vs. technology if you count all of the technological details that NASA had to work through.
The plot mostly consists of all of the different challenges that have to be overcome, which keeps the pace constantly moving with all of the mini-goals. It lacks some of the traditional story structures like end of act turns, which is refreshing in some ways and disappointing in others. Certainly, the classic ultimate goal and plot twists that are so overused that they become predictable become old and annoying, but a movie can still be non-traditional and interesting while using those templates. As Watney says at the end, you have to solve it one problem at a time, which is how the story works. But by the end, I didn't want another scientific miracle, and having him "fly around like Iron Man" was just a little too much. It didn't kill the movie per se, but I would have preferred that scene to have played out differently.
The acting was pretty good, with no one performance standing out over the others. The set designs were cool and impressive, definitely Oscar nom worthy. I didn't feel that it deserved to win any of the categories it was nominated for, but the nominations were in order. Granted, I haven't seen Fury Road, which won several of the technical awards, but it seemed to be more deserving than the Martian based on the trailers.
If you're intimidated by scientific movies, I wouldn't worry too much. Basic high school or maybe even middle school scientific knowledge is all that's needed to comprehend the problems and solutions of each challenge. There is a decent amount of comic relief, some of which could be annoying to those of you that dislike comedy placed in other genres. I would recommend watching it in one sitting, and probably with a group so that you can clarify any questions you may have with each other. In my own opinion, it's a little overrated even if it is pretty entertaining. I preferred Interstellar, which I know has been a popular comparison, but the Martian is for a totally different audience than Interstellar is. If you didn't like Interstellar for reasons other than it's being too much like 2001, definitely try the Martian. Otherwise, I wouldn't be afraid to spend money on renting it if you're interested. Overall Rating: 8.2/10.