Review of The Martian (2015) by Ryan55 — 03 Oct 2015

I realize this probably won't be a popular review, but I don't understand why everyone is praising this film so much. I'll list off the pros and cons to show why I'm giving it a 4/10.

Pros: The science is accurate,.

The movie is visually stunning (seen in 3D IMAX).

Cons: First, the film gets its tone all wrong. For a film that is basically Robinson Crusoe set on Mars, The Martian is oddly lighthearted. The result is that the movie has absolutely no tension. You know Mark isn't going to die, that he's going to be brought home safe, and that every problem is going to have a solution which requires no one to sacrifice their well-being, which makes for a boring movie.

Second, the other reason it's a boring movie is that most of the problems are solved through deus ex machina. "Oh no, we blew up our rocket!" "Oh hey, how convenient that the Chinese government has a spare rocket engine we can use, and that they're willing to share this state secret solely out of the kindness of their hearts, despite the fact that there is no plot buildup to this solution whatsoever." There are plenty of other examples, but I won't list them all to save space. The point is that the film lacks verisimilitude as a result.

Third, absolutely no person has any character development. Mark, who is stranded by himself on a hostile planet for two years, remains the same character type throughout the movie. His isolation doesn't seem to impact his psyche at all.This is really weird and took me out of the story. The script writer seems to think that everyone getting new jobs at the end of the movie serves as character development.

Fourth, endless plot points that are simply tangents. Mark talks about God once at the start of the movie, and we're led to believe he probably does believe in God. Does his faith (or possible lack thereof) change his view on things? Not really. Does his view on God change at all through this difficult experience? Not really. So why is it brought up? For a cheap, lighthearted joke. Mark talks about his parents once. Do we ever see them? No. Do we know anything about them or anything about Mark's other relatives? Not really. Most of the side characters work this way too. Donald Glover plays a geeky astrophysicist who solves a difficult science problem, receiving a few minutes of screen time. Do we ever see him again? Not until the end credits. Half of the characters work this way!

Sorry this review is so long, but the cons take a lot of space to accurately map out. In short, The Martian plays out as if it was written by a high school science teacher. It's filled with science experiments meant to keep people interested, but all the characters are bland, static, and in no danger. Somehow, Ridley Scott managed to make an incredibly sterile movie about space exploration.