Review of The Martian (2015) by Carlosnseattle — 15 Mar 2016

Okay, I am also perplexed as to why people have given this terrible movie a favorable review. It seems like all we care about is a big name director and big star, then the movie has instant credibility. There was not one truly memorable moment in this movie. I cannot remember a single word, phrase, exchange of dialogue, or turn of event that left a lasting impression. The only positives were Matt Damon's likability and some decent special effects.

For one thing how can this premise be taken ass even remotely plausible? Does anyone think that we would send ship to Mars that is vulnerable to a naturally and regularly occurring storm on Mars? And who would design a ship that is docked so perilously? It was standing up like one of those red/white/blue popsicle rocket treats we used to get from the ice cream man as a kid. Or even more than that it looked like a ship from a 1950's era sci-fi movie. C'mon man, this is a new millennium. Make a ship that is supported as it would be supported on Mars. It should be shorter and more stable, not doomed to tip over like shown in the movie. That one scene lost me for the next 30 minutes.

Here are the other things I feel left me wanting with that movie.

1. When the storm struck I didn't know who was left behind. I knew it was the Matt Damon character but I didn't "know" him, meaning I had no emotional investment in that character.

2. He was a botanist, how convenient. His character didn't have to transform or change in any way in order to survive; he was the perfect guy to be left behind.

3. And just why were the potatoes going to run out??? They said you have 400 and something days, but never said why. Was it because there were other vital nutrients that would be lacking at that point?

4. If you give me 2 years to figure out how to solve a problem that means my survival, and there's nothing else to do but figure it out, I bet I'l find something too. The dates before his food was going to run out were so far out that I never felt a sense of urgency. You can call Mars "The Monster" but it wasn't pursuing the main character, just waiting for him to run out of food. How boring is that???

5. When was the last time we saw nobody but good guys in a movie? There was nobody to blame, no bad guys anywhere. That was just plain weak. A bad guys doesn't have to be a bad person, just a person who either has too much fear or fears the wrong thing, which causes him/her to make poor choices. Nobody served as a villain in any way. I know from playing sports and working in small and large companies that there's always a person who feels like the bad guy, even unintentionally. This movie, with it's little slice of heaven, was absurd to say the least.

For these reasons and other minor reasons I was totally disappointed. My wife liked it and I couldn't understand why. This was the dumbest movie I've seen in a long time. I really wanted to like ti but was terribly disappointed.