The Martian [Movie Review]

Third review in a week. It's almost like I'm back on schedule. I'm not, but its a nice feeling. Anyways, I have another review this week. It is for a movie that I've been waiting for...

That was the most memorable scene from Apollo 13.

Surprise.

... ever since I read this XKCD comic. I think it might have been the first time I head of the movie. I could be wrong, but I think this was the first place I head about it.

5 out of 5 stars

I really think this movie might have a shot at Best Picture in next years Oscars. 

Too many Sean Beans are living through movies recently.
This is a disturbing trend. I kid, Sean Bean is a good actor
and it's nice to see him in a variety of roles.

I rarely do that, make Oscar Predictions. Mainly because the films I really love are not ones that Hollywood likes to brag about. I love science fiction (serious or space opera, it matters not), certain period pieces, and fantasy movies. Hollywood likes crime dramas, heavy handed dramas, and emotionally manipulative twaddle. Sometimes they like war dramas, and I like those too (most of the time). Out of the last 20 years of Oscar Best Picture Winners, there were two movies I really enjoyed: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Brave Heart. (I also more or less liked Gladiator.) 

Enough of me yammering about the Oscars.

This movie was fantastic.

The helmet seems off to me in this image...

I'm not being facetious, or anything like that. No, this movie was really good. Solid characters, significant drama, good science, and significant humor.

"I wonder what he's thinking right now?"
"I'm going to die here."

And it was well paced. The movie clocked in at 141 minutes, probably 155 minutes or more with the massive number of crappy previews. So many previews were bad, awful, or insulting. However despite the length, the movie never dragged, never bogged down, never lagged. Everything was paced out appropriately. The cuts between the multiple locations (Mars, Hermes, and Earth) were constructed to keep the pacing moving along at exactly the right speed. 

I really like the Hermes space craft. It looked plausible.

Now the plot is not the most complicated thing ever devised. It's a story of survival in a super hostile environment. Science and engineering and botany are our survivalist hero's best tools. So the plot will obviously involve unexpected set-backs and disruptions to our hero's plans will be par for the course. However it is not like a ping-pong ball in a dryer bouncing from one problem to another. He solves problems, handles things, before the next crisis comes along.

There is a lot of praise I can give this movie, a lot. 


It passed all of my usual tests with flying results. I was never bored, never got lost in my own head, never distracted by a lazy camera cut or other cinematographic faux pas. There were no negatives to drag the movie down (well aside from the interior of the Hermes being a bit too large and too comfortable). There were no bad points to the film.

It was excellent.

It was absolutely worth seeing.

You should go and see this movie.

I hope you like Disco.

Here is the cover of the book the movie was based on.