The popularity of film genres tends to move in cycles, and with space movies it’s tempting to see the parallels with real life. When scientists are on song, filmmakers tap into the intergalactic thrill.
When Captain Kirk spoke of “Space: the final frontier” in the 1960s and Kubrick sent a giant baby into the cosmos, the space race was in full flow and the first moon landing just around the corner. And now, with successful probes returning from Pluto and riding aback speeding asteroids, we’re once again in the grip of fictional space.
Hot on the heels of the Oscar-winning Gravity and the grandiose Interstellar comes Ridley Scott’s The Martian. This is nothing like Scott’s previous venture into science fiction, Prometheus. Whereas that film misguidedly tried to combine the idealism of space exploration with the pessimistic horror of Scott’s Alien series – mashed together in a torturous plot – The Martian keeps it simple. And it’s all the better for it.
It’s Day 18 of a mission to Mars, with scientists collecting their samples and sharing banter in the midst of a very red desert plain. When a severe storm hits the planet, commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) decides to abandon the mission. In the chaos and darkness of the storm, botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is lost, presumed dead, and his colleagues take off without him.
Watney is in fact alive, but his situation couldn’t be more dire, with no way to contact NASA and four years to the next Mars mission – on a planet with no water or food. Both the botanist’s character and the tone of the film are established by his reaction: “I’m going to have to science the s*** out of it.”
Adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, the script now moves between three points of action: Watney’s efforts on Mars to feed himself and survive for the long haul; Earth, where NASA eventually realise they have left a man behind and try to devise a rescue plan; and the returning space ship, where Watney’s colleagues will have their own say in how to proceed.
The precursor this most brings to mind is Apollo 13, charting the real-life attempt to return a damaged spaceship and its three astronauts safely to Earth. Like that film, The Martian is driven by positive human characteristics – problem-solving ingenuity, endurance, teamwork and camaraderie. And as such, there’s something quite joyous about it.
Unlike Apollo 13, we don’t know how it will pan out, whether Watney will survive or if – as is the case with so many rescue movies – supporting characters will die to save him. This uncertainty maintains the film’s edge as it moves towards its climax. En route, though, Scott keeps proceedings upbeat, whether allowing the ever-likeable Damon to charm the pants off us with Watney’s monologues to his log (it’s such a lovely performance that you just want to hug the man), ensuring plenty of colourful interaction from the supporting cast (notably Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Benedict Wong) and the occasional surprise on the soundtrack. Of course, being Scott, every aspect of The Martian is gloriously visualised, from the planet to the spaceships to space itself.
Interestingly, both Damon and Chastain appeared in Interstellar. With The Martian he gets to swap a heel with a good guy, and she an Earthbound scientist with a formidable spaceship commander. They’ve also exchanged a film that was too far up its inner space to truly engage with audiences, with one that turns that final frontier into one of the most rapturously entertaining trips of the year.
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