The Martian is adaptation of the book by Andy Weir with the same name. I had read the book before watching the movie so I did not mind the trailers giving away too much which I don't think they did.
To start things off, I loved this movie and I credit the author first for coming up with such a rich source material that the screenwriter Drew Goddard almost perfectly adapted to the big screen. Then comes the director Ridley Scott. His direction was great and perfect in my opinion. The visuals and cinematography were outstanding and Ridley did an excellent job of keeping Mars so far away yet have the story so grounded on earth with human emotions. This leads me to the acting. Matt Damon portrays Mark Watney, an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars as a result of some ill fated events and has to use his botanical, mathematical and comical skills to survive for about 4 years on a deserted planet. Matt displays a wide range of emotions and in turn his acting prowess from humor to hopelessness to hopefulness to relief. One particular scene towards to the end where he breaks down as he was about to be saved reminded me of the end scene in Captain Philips with Tom Hanks. The other notable performance for me was from Jeff Daniels and Mackenzie Davis. The movie had great pacing and never felt rushed or slowed down. One moment led to the other in a smooth transition and I was never lost.
I said before about Drew almost adapting the book to perfection. The "almost" stems from the fact that I liked all characters except perhaps the Donald Glover's Rich Purnell. I do not blame him for that nor did I hate the astrodynamicist Rich but he just seemed too school for cool for a movie that is hoping to be a humane story (He worked in the book). Also some of the things were missing in the movie that were great in the book in my opinion. For example, the ending of the book worked a bit better where Mark gives a nice monologue about his rescue and also the moment when he finds Pathfinder had a nice funny moment that could have been included in the film.
Phew. That was hard. This movie was great and everyone should go see it.
The Martian is a funny, adventurous, thrilling, and a emotional film that also portrays great messages of team work, persistence and hope without being too preachy about it.
Must watch,
To start things off, I loved this movie and I credit the author first for coming up with such a rich source material that the screenwriter Drew Goddard almost perfectly adapted to the big screen. Then comes the director Ridley Scott. His direction was great and perfect in my opinion. The visuals and cinematography were outstanding and Ridley did an excellent job of keeping Mars so far away yet have the story so grounded on earth with human emotions. This leads me to the acting. Matt Damon portrays Mark Watney, an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars as a result of some ill fated events and has to use his botanical, mathematical and comical skills to survive for about 4 years on a deserted planet. Matt displays a wide range of emotions and in turn his acting prowess from humor to hopelessness to hopefulness to relief. One particular scene towards to the end where he breaks down as he was about to be saved reminded me of the end scene in Captain Philips with Tom Hanks. The other notable performance for me was from Jeff Daniels and Mackenzie Davis. The movie had great pacing and never felt rushed or slowed down. One moment led to the other in a smooth transition and I was never lost.I said before about Drew almost adapting the book to perfection. The "almost" stems from the fact that I liked all characters except perhaps the Donald Glover's Rich Purnell. I do not blame him for that nor did I hate the astrodynamicist Rich but he just seemed too school for cool for a movie that is hoping to be a humane story (He worked in the book). Also some of the things were missing in the movie that were great in the book in my opinion. For example, the ending of the book worked a bit better where Mark gives a nice monologue about his rescue and also the moment when he finds Pathfinder had a nice funny moment that could have been included in the film.
Phew. That was hard. This movie was great and everyone should go see it.
The Martian is a funny, adventurous, thrilling, and a emotional film that also portrays great messages of team work, persistence and hope without being too preachy about it.
Must watch,