The Martian (2015) - Review

Ridley Scott is definitely one of the most hit or miss directors out there. "Blade Runner" and "Alien" are clearly his most praised works. "Gladiator" is definitely a classic and it has a pretty big fanbase. Also, some people argue that "Black Hawk Down" is even on the same level with "Apocalypse Now" and other classic war films (which by the way, I agree with that statement). However, he has also produced many hated films in the 2000's which have been called major disappointments by many. However, I still had hopes for this one because sci-fi tends to be his strongest genre. My anticipation definitely paid off and "The Martian" is clearly the best film he's made in a while and it proves that it might be his comeback.

After an astronaut gets stranded on Mars after a storm hits his crewmates, he finds out that he must find a way to signal Earth that he is still alive and he has to figure out how to survive until then.

There have been a lot of comparisons to last years "Interstellar". Unlike "Interstellar", this film doesn't contain any expositions and it gets right to the inciting incident. Despite this, we never get confused during the film as it doesn't expect us to have read the book. It explains things nicely and the plot flows along smoothly. "Interstellar" is also very heavy on science. However, this film doesn't focus too much on intricate science concepts and it is a film which can be enjoyed by more people on the first viewing. Also, it is much less bland and its pacing makes it an easier film to watch. So for this reason, I enjoyed it much more than "Interstellar".

Also, I really enjoyed the visuals. The outside shots gave a great feel about how Mars looked and it made it look like a barren and desolate area. The shots from the ship looked very futuristic and it made the living quarters look super advanced and high tech. The atmosphere in the movie couldn't be much better and it really makes you feel that this film actually was filmed in space. It may not be anything new or groundbreaking in terms of space visuals but I usually don't ever mind that as long as the visuals are not underwhelming and this movies visuals are most certainly not underwhelming at all. They interested me greatly and they looked very realistic.

Most of the screen time is focused on Matt Damon in this movie. I felt that he gave a great performance. It may not be anything Oscar-worthy but he still gave a realistic performance. He was the only actor I really noticed for the majority of the movie but that didn't bother me at all because he carried the movie very well by himself.

Like most great movies, however, it isn't flawless. The pacing was a bit too slow for me at times and I felt that it could have been cut to 2 hours instead. I also felt that some scenes carried on longer than they had to. However, this didn't bother me all that much and I still enjoyed it a great deal.

After "Gravity" and "Interstellar" grew very popular, it seems that the space survival genre is starting to become popular and we might see more films like this in the next several years. Hopefully, Ridley Scott learns off of what he did right in this movie so he can apply what he learned and make more great films in the future. I'm not completely sure if this is true but I think that this film might be his comeback into fame and he might make good films again as he once did. This is one of my favorite films so far this year and make sure you see it as soon as possible. You will not be disappointed at all.

Final Verdict: 9/10 Amazing