The poster for Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi masterpiece Alien told us that in space, no-one can hear you scream. 36 years later, and it would seem that no-one can hear you colonising a planet in a desperate effort to stay alive either. Scott's latest, which has recently invited controversy due to its ridiculous Golden Globe victory in the 'Musical or Comedy' category, takes a refreshingly optimistic view of one man's struggle when left stranded on Mars with only his wits and a never-ending list of obstacles to overcome to keep him from losing his sanity. After the let-down of Scott's recent return to the sci-fi genre with Prometheus, The Martian has the director firmly back in form.
In 2035, the crew of the Ares III, commanded by Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), are exploring the surface of Mars when a violent dust storm forces them to flee. Botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is struck by debris and when his space suit reports a breach and no sign of life, the remaining crew reluctantly escape presuming Mark to be dead. When he awakes hours later with an antenna protruding from his stomach and his oxygen levels dangerously low, he makes his way back to the living quarters and quickly sets about calculating how long he can survive on what he has. Discovering he only has about a month left, he "sciences the s**t" out of whatever he can salvage and successfully starts growing food.
As ludicrous as The Martian's inclusion in the Musical or Comedy category was, the film is still very funny. In one of many efforts to hold on to his sanity, Mark talks to himself while recording a log of his actions, revealing a laid-back and sardonic sense of humour which seems to come naturally to the actor. With little in the way of explosive set-pieces, The Martian opts to be subtly engaging as opposed to outright exciting. Mark's can-do attitude gives a stubborn optimism to the movie's outlook, and with comments such as "f**k you, Mars" following one particularly hard-earned achievement, it's hard not to cheer him along.
Also absent are any suggestions of puffy-chested patriotism or evil- doing among the people back on Earth trying to bring Mark home. The only person resembling a 'baddie' who mission director Vincent Karpoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) clashes heads with is NASA director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels), but even he retains his humanity throughout. If there is a criticism to be had, it's that Mark never feels truly in danger in such an inhospitable landscape. But The Martian takes care to lay out and explain all the science-y stuff going on with clarity and without heavy exposition, and although I wouldn't have a clue if what they were saying was nonsense or mathematically correct, you have to marvel at the detail. A smart and unexpectedly joyous space survival movie, with what is undoubtedly Damon's finest performance to date.
