In space, as Ridley Scott's Alien once reminded us, no one can hear you scream. But in The Martian they can hear you crack jokes, curse up a storm at ground patrol and crow about your botany prowess. Scott's charming nerdfest of a sci-fi adventure is the most good-humored movie you're ever likely to see about a man marooned on a desolate planet.
It's also a whole lot of Matt Damon, whose stranded astronaut, Mark Watney, spends a good chunk of the film telling a video log, and the audience, how he intends to survive on the red planet until he can get some help. See Mark explain his newest scientific gambit. Watch him execute said gambit. Mix. Stir. Repeat.
It's a pleasant enough experience, even if it gets glib pretty fast, and repetitive shortly thereafter. The Martian is fueled by charm, curiosity and the scientific method. It plays like a modernized Kennedy-age fantasy of discovery, space and can-do initiative. As Mark himself explains the process, "If you solve all the problems, you get to come home."
Mark's crew, which includes Jessica Chastain and Michael Peña and doesn't have a whole lot to do through the course of the movie, has fled Mars after a sudden storm. The crew members have lost contact with their comrade. They think he's dead. The head of NASA, played by a perfectly bureaucratic Jeff Daniels, is chagrined when everyone discovers the fallen astronaut has in fact risen. This means they have to bring him back. And that task requires -- you guessed it -- a lot of science.
And a lot of political infighting. The Martian's peppiest sequences revolve around the suits and technicians scrambling back on Earth to devise Mark's return. This is where you'll find the film's best supporting players, including Daniels; Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the head of Mars missions; Kristen Wiig, as NASA's icy PR honcho; and Benedict Wong, as the calm but harried guy solving problems over at Jet Propulsion Laboratories.
The dialogue they speak was written by Drew Goddard, who adapted the screenplay from Andy Weir's novel. But if you close your eyes you'll hear an echo of Aaron Sorkin's hyperclever, back-and-forth wonkiness (which will be front and center with the Oct. 16 Dallas release of Steve Jobs).
Meanwhile, as the earthlings plan and squabble, Mark just gets stuff done. He wouldn't care much about this week's news of water on Mars, because he knows how to make his own out of hydrogen and oxygen. Not enough food? Plant some potatoes using fertilizer made from human waste. Need to communicate? Bust out the ol' hexadecimal alphabet. Mark is like an outer space MacGyver who paid close attention in his science classes.
Scott's Mars looks a little like an HD version of John Ford's Monument Valley with a red tint. The Martian doesn't really strive for visual awe or cosmic wonder; for those qualities you're better off returning to Gravity. In fact the past couple of years have brought a fascinating variety of approaches to big-screen cosmos, from the spiritual inspiration of Gravity to the high-flown (and muddled) philosophy of Interstellar and now the cool-headed rationality of The Martian. In case you didn't notice, there's a whole lot of room out there to explore.
THE MARTIAN (B+)
Directed by Ridley Scott. Rated PG-13 (some strong language, injury images and brief nudity). 141 mins. In wide release.
