A.C.’s Review: Matt Damon returns as yet another
stranded astronaut (See INTERSTELLAR...or rather don’t unless you wanted
to be bored by the over rated Christopher
Nolan and his yawner of a sci fi opus). This time Damon is playing Mark Watney left by his crew on Mars when a frightful storm forces the
mission to be aborted and Watney
appears to be killed when he is carried away in the storm after being KO’ed by
the satellite dish.
Watney lives however but is unable
to immediately contact Earth with the
communications array in shambles. After performing emergency surgery on himself
he must take stock of his situation and find a way to use every bit of his
scientific skills to find a way to stay alive. He’s got a habitat to live in
that was designed for thirty days plus a rover vehicle and some potatoes the
crew was going to have for Thanksgiving
dinner. In short order he is farming spuds inside his habitat in order to make
his food supply stretch until a rescue is even possibly many, many months away.
Things
fall apart after a mishap destroys his food supply and Watney must now set out across the landscape in a desperate gamble
to stay alive.
Back
on earth we have various subplots of NASA officials trying to aid Watney is his quest to stay alive…along
with the crew of the Hermes that are
stunned when they find out they accidently left their friend behind. All must
come together to save Watney.
This
is based on Andy Weir’s book THE MARTIAN…a surprise “self-published” hit. The kind
of situation an author dreams of. Not only is his book a hit but he also
sells movie rights and its made into a film with an all-star cast. Only problem
is in the book the main character comes across as very juvenile. I read the
book and quickly tired of Watney’s
wisecracking. I had hopes the movie would gloss over some of that. For the most
part movie Watney is toned downed but
he still drew plenty of laughs from the audience.
As
with always there are changes with a book to movie translation but unwisely the
movie drops how difficult the journey Watney
makes across Mars for his rescue. The movie made it seem easy.
I wanted
to like the movie but it was just kind of there. Nothing
spectacular. Just there. Currently it’s been number one at the box office for
two weeks now…I guess the hype is working but it’s just hype.
Best Scene: In a stroke
of genius Watney tracks down the old Mars Pathfinder and Rover made famous in 1997 for its adventures on Mars and uses it to establish contact
with earth.
A.C.’s Rating: Matinee
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