In 2015, Ridley Scott’s The Martian earned seven Oscar nominations, critical acclaim, and made $630 million dollars worldwide box office. Even when reaching those highs, time (and cable-television repeated viewings) has only enhanced its reputation and impact.
Matt Damon stars as Dr. Mark Watney, a botanist astronaut studying Mars alongside Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain), pilot Martinez (Michael Pena), systems operator Johansson (Kate Mara), flight surgeon Beck (Sebastian Stan), and navigator Vogel (Askel Hennie). When a solar storm threatens their work, Lewis orders an evacuation. Watney is hit by a piece of debris during the evacuation and believed to be dead. The rest of the crew head back towards Earth.
Watney wakes up alone and alive on the planet, and makes his way back to the habitat. Following some self-surgery, Watney begins to settle in long-term and contacts NASA. Back on Earth, missions commander Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and NASA Administrator Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) discover Mark is alive, and round up all available resources in order to bring him back home.
Tonally, this film expertly balances the realities of a constant life-or-death situation, while still having intelligent fun. For a film that deals with astrophysics, space travel, and botanical characteristics, the script never manages to talk down to the audience. At the same time, the characters equally never dumb down the message to layman’s terms. It’s a testament to how much trust Scott has in the audience.
Scott himself is not exactly known for his gentle touch and light energy. Outside of 2003’s Matchstick Men, Scott has no track record of directing anything you could consider fun. While not the ideal directorial candidate on paper, he fits this material like a glove. A guy like Scott knows how to let the story and atmosphere breathe and enrich the story, with Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator as some of his prime examples. Few other directors know how to utilize the cinematography and let the art direction do much of the legwork. Not only has the film aged well, it’s a cable television staple. Rarely can you make it a week without seeing The Martian on FXX or TBS. The immense rewatchability is another Scott staple, though this is easily the most fun of his films.
More than anything, this film is an idealized version of humanity and technology. There is a celebration of technology, education, engineering, and collaboration necessary to achieve new astrological heights. There is no political slant, as the only recognition of politics involves congressional approval of missions and a brief one-sided conversation with an invisible president. In fact, the entire climax of the film is only possible because of inter-country collaboration between China and the United States. It’s about harmony and academic understanding in order to achieve a shared goal of good. It’s wildly refreshing.
With all these things going for it, Damon’s career-best performance brings it all together. While this is by no means a stretch of a character from Damon’s own persona, that is why he is so well-cast. Few other actors can bring the charm, likeability, intellect, motor-mouthed delivery, and energy, matching everything Watney needs to be. You may be able to point to the physicality of the Bourne films, or the dramatic moments of The Departed and The Talented Mr. Ripley as the signature Damon roles, but few match the highs of what he is able to achieve here.
For a film where a single character is the main focus of every conversation and occupies much of the screentime alone and talking to a camera, the film focuses quite a bit on the talented ensemble. The space crew each do a nice job, especially Chastain, who leans into her inherent leadership qualities. The NASA group on the ground gets much more of a narrative focus. Ejiofor and Benedict Wong share a fun chemistry, while Daniels fits his most Jeff-Danielsian modern role. Mackenzie Davis and Donald Glover both have some standout scenes as some of the lower-level NASA employees who both play a big role.
The years later, The Martian has only grown in popularity and achievement. When the time comes for subsequent anniversaries, I would expect its reputation to grow even more so.
