Movie Notes: Compelling Storytelling in The Martian (2015)

Think of Tom Hank's Castaway only this time it is not the sea but the gaping vastness of space and the tension of Sandra Bullock's Gravity but this time stranded in another planet and you get the movie Martian. Directed by Ridley Scott and stars Matt Damon, 

The Martian is a gripping space odyssey movie that follows the events in the life of Mark Watney who was left behind in Mars during their evacuation as a destructive sand storm knocked him down. All alone in the red planet he is left to survive until a rescue mission arrives which would take years considering the distance between Earth and Mars.

He is left with provisions for food, water and other resources enough for only a few days which forces him to find ways to survive. With his knowledge in Botany (how convenient) he was able to grow plants and stretched his food supply and after finding a way to communicate with NASA he was able to let everyone know that he was still alive and needs rescue.

Although some of the movie's language and concepts are hard to understand for normal folks like us (like Math and Physics), the film was not a complete disconnect to its audience because it touches universal themes of survival, companionship, fear, cooperation, hope and our fascination of the world beyond Earth which we all share.

The movie is uplifting to watch despite the grim theme of being lost and alone in a place separated by the vastness of space because like other adventure films, the movie is also about conquering adversity and doing something to solve a problem. 

After being relatively quiet in mainstream cinema, Matt Damon did a pretty good job here and I loved the scene when he was being rescued by his fellow astronauts where I genuinely felt the excitement, happiness and longing in his teary eyed face. 

If you loved Gravity with its emotions and Interstellar with its imagery, The Martian combines them in a way that you get enough of both.

This movie is worth watching I give it a rating of 4 out 5 and adding it to my list of AMAZING movies.





For movie information visit The Martian post at Cinemunch