‘The Martian’ orbits in success

Whether it’s a grand-scale adventure like Gladiator or a more contained one like Alien, director Ridley Scott knows how to craft incredibly suspenseful works of cinema. However, as of late, the 77 year-old filmmaker has lost his touch with age, and it’s been shown in some of his recent efforts such as Exodus: Gods and Kings and Prometheus, which were quite weak. With that said, Scott ends up leaning more towards the work he made in his prime with The Martian.

Launching into theaters on Oct. 2, this space drama stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut/botanist on a mission to Mars with his crew of the Hermes space shuttle consisting of Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Rick Martinez (Michael Peña), Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) and Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie). When a storm occurs during their mission, Watney is struck by debris and is presumed dead, but actually manages to survive, yet is now alone on Mars with nothing but his suit, a rover and a containment center.

Once Earth realizes he’s still alive, NASA director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels), with the help of his colleagues Venkat Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean) and Rich Purnell (Donald Glover), begin to organize a rescue mission.  As complications arise and the mission keeps getting delayed, Watney must learn new ways to keep himself alive while enduring the harsh conditions of Mars until his rescue.

Perhaps the most intriguing concept here is the fact that the overall story is less comparable to science-fiction than it is to science-reality. The filmmakers have paid attention to detail and have attempted to make each scene appear logical and realistic. The film never once seems too farfetched, which keeps the drama strong.

The film’s sharp comedic edge provides moments of levity throughout. It’s always naturally implemented into the story and never feels forced, due to both the actors and the top-notch script they’re working with, penned by Cloverfield scribe Drew Goddard. The film consistently moves well and the overall length is perfectly cut, making everything as tight as possible.

Also, when a film has such a great cast like this, the performances could go either way. They could either be completely phoned in or have actual heart and soul in them. Fortunately, they fall into that second category. Damon proves himself yet again as a profound lead and the supporting cast elevates the material around him to equally magnificent levels.

This is a professionally put together thrill ride full of amazing performances, a spectacular sense of scope and refreshing logic. The tension is always there, the soundtrack is creatively composed and  the dialogue is keen and never becomes technological jargon like it would in other science-based films. It’s always relatively easy to follow and never becomes too preposterous for the audience to follow. This is definitely one of the better films of this year.