The Martian, Movie Review

Note: This article appeared on ARY News blog-site on 13th October, 2015.

http://blogs.arynews.tv/the-martian-movie-review/

The Martian is a science fiction feature film directed by the renowned and legendary Ridley Scott who has brought us many cult science fiction classics such as the Alien series and movies such as Blade Runner. The film is based on Andy Weir’s 2011 novel The Martian. It is in a nutshell, a story of survival, of defying all odds and not giving up in the face of hopelessness and when it all seems lost.

The movie’s basic premise/plot gyrates around an astronaut named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who gets left behind on the planet of Mars during an exploratory expedition by his crew members because he is presumed dead/lost when they get caught up in a middle of a severe sandstorm on the planet of Mars. How he survives the alien planet and endures the physical and mental strain that comes with being basically the only person stranded on a hostile habitat such as Mars is what the entire movie is about.

As far as the acting in the lead role is concerned, Matt Damon yet again proves and reasserts his acting caliber as he is truly for a lack of a better word, “remarkable” in his role as an astronaut being marooned on Mars and he fully delivers all the attached emotional gravity that comes with such an exhaustive role. Devoid of cheap sci-fi thrills just for the sake of it coupled with a usual Alien plot-line is nowhere to be seen thankfully because this has been done so many times before. As was the novel this particular movie is based upon, the movie feels a lot more grounded and humanized despite being setup in such a grandiose and huge narrative.

The Martian is homage to human tenacity and perseverance. This movie is deeply moving, we are rooting for the lead protagonist to successfully go back to Earth yet it is equally horrifying to imagine a human being stranded millions of miles away from his homeland. A thought that will give us all Goosebumps, the mere thought of this occurring as the audience will see this movie is a testament of how good this movie is.

The fundamental and quintessential essence of this movie is that The Martian subtly and craftily defines how a science fiction genre based movie ought to be made.  Consider this Homer’s Iliad equivalent space odyssey novel made even better in celluloid format by its director Ridley Scott. As human beings it is in built-in in each of us the need to not only survive but thrive in the face of insurmountable odds, the movie truly reflects a struggle of a man against the most extreme of circumstances. As the renowned fictional character from the Star Trek universe, Spock used to say “Live long and Prosper”, one can’t help but think of that Vulcan salute as the movie concludes. Must watch movie in my opinion, I’d give it a rating of 9/10