The Martian

SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

I finally managed to find the time to watch one of the most talked-about films of the past year - one which garnered plenty of Oscar buzz as well as critical acclaim, and not to mention some terrific word-of-mouth which always aids a movie at the box office.

The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who is stranded on Mars on his own after he is presumed dead by his team and by NASA after an aborted mission.

From the very first few establishing shots, we are already introduced to the sheer scale of this picture with such grand wide shots, as well as the very warm-feeling setting of the planet Mars.

It's a shame that I missed it in theatres, a shame for all who did really. The shots and the effects just aren't the same on Blu-ray.

At the start, we are introduced to Watney's team on Mars - Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Martinez (Michael Peña), Johanssen (Kate Mara), Beck (Sebastian Stan) and Vogel (Aksel Hennie).

The thing about the team that I liked the most was the fact that they could forge a very believable bond with Watney as both colleague and buddy, without even having that much screen time - and virtually none with Watney himself.

I think that is a very commendable achievement on the part of the writers and in particular, the actors.

It's so easy to fall into that hole where the chemistry between a separated set of cast members on screen becomes so implausible and bizarre, which in turn leads to the movie being very unenjoyable. The Martian not only managed to keep these characters out of this hole, but also to build a solid platform over it to ensure they never fall in.

Now, let's just talk about Matt Damon in this film for a second. I feel that Damon made the movie his.

It's easy to forget how developed and talented he is as a dramatic actor, and with his multi-layered performance here, he just subtly reminds us that he's capable of acting of this magnitude.

Portraying a character who is left alone on a planet more than 140 million miles away from home, having to survive with what little he has left for a matter of years can easily fall into the regions of a boring survival movie or one that nobody really cares about.

By playing Watney with such heart and conviction, it makes us not only feel for him but also to root for him in his quest.

A deserved Oscar nomination, yes. But I think that's as good as it gets, sadly. DiCaprio was really THAT good in The Revenant. Funnily enough, both The Martian and The Revenant were about one man's quest to survive in extreme circumstances.

The supporting cast did a good job too - a surprising one, at that.

Why surprising? Well, when you have two generally comedic actors (one of them being a ditsy bimbotic clown in most of the things she does) in Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber) and Kristen Wiig playing serious characters in dramatic roles, you tend to be surprised.

One of the things that a space drama like this would unsurprisingly draw attention to itself to is how it compares to movies like Interstellar or Gravity which have come out in recent years.

Personally, I feel that The Martian is by far the best among the three.

Why? Well, to put it simply - The Martian knew fully well what kind of movie it wanted itself to be.

It didn't try to be overly-ambitious and too big for its own good. It was just right.

That was my biggest issue with Interstellar in particular. I love Christopher Nolan and the cast and all but, the movie was just too big for its own good.

Another thing about Interstellar was how insanely scientific the dialogue was, which left neutrals like me with absolutely no knowledge of rocket science or physics totally baffled and constantly questioning why this and that were said and done in the movie.

As for The Martian, it wasn't confusing at all, probably because the makers of it remembered that there is a fair portion of THE ENTIRE WORLD who doesn't understand complex science terms (unlike *Ahem* INTERSTELLAR *Ahem*).

For the other technical aspects of The Martian, well, the music, cinematography and editing were all alright and nothing spectacular.

The choices of songs used in the movie, however, were fantastic. Some were even so unfitting and inappropriate for the mood or tone of a particular scene in which the song appeared that made the clashing effect interesting and comedic.

Direction-wise, The Martian was spot on. Ridley Scott did a fantastic job with this film and adds to his impressive record of making good "big" movies.

All in all, The Martian was a well-directed, well-acted and generally well-made film. It was impactful when it needed to be impactful and it never failed to keep me hooked in excitement.

If I had seen this film before awards season and before 2016 started, I would've knocked Avengers: Age of Ultron off of my Top 10 Best Movies of the Year List (Link: http://themoviefella.blogspot.sg/2016/01/my-top-10-best-movies-of-2015.html) and rank it sixth, behind Kingsman: The Secret Service.

An excellent piece of storytelling on such a big scale, and in my opinion, 140 million miles better than Interstellar or Gravity.

8.5/10.