The Martian

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Ridley Scott/Starring: Matt Damon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Wiig, Benedict Wong and Donald Glover

At last; after suffering through so many mediocre Ridley Scott movies, the director finally scores big with his latest film: The Martian. Scott, always one to confuse dazzling special effects for gripping storytelling, finds a happy medium here; making his new film his most complete cinematic effort this century. Science fiction films have experienced a resurgence in recent years with renewed storytelling vigor. Films like Interstellar and Gravity are more recent examples. Scott's film continues that trend with a smart, spellbinding drama that is both powerful and visually captivating.

Based on the novel by the same name, The Martian tells the story of an astronaut named Mark Watney (Matt Damon); a botanist who is part of an expedition exploring the surface of Mars. The NASA team, led by military-affiliated Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain; as wonderful as always), finds itself caught in a violent sandstorm that threatens to not only topple their capsule, but to endanger their lives as well. In the struggle to return to the capsule, Watney is blown backward when a satellite dish strikes him; leaving his whereabouts unknown in the howling tempest. Unable to perform a rescue, the team is forced to leave Watney behind as they narrowly escape in their capsule, which transports them to the safe environs of their mother ship, the Hermes.

Back at NASA, Director Teddy Sanders (a terrific Jeff Daniels), Mission Director Vincent Kapoor (an excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Director of PR Annie Montrose (an exceptional Kristen Wiig) break the news of Watney's passing to the world, which causes a global outpouring of grief. Meanwhile, the Hermes crew heads for Earth with heavy hearts.

But the next Martian day, as camera tracks slowly over the red, deserty landscape, we see Watney partially buried in sand; his suit life supports systems still functional. When he awakes, he finds a small, metal rod; formerly part of the antenna, sticking out of his side. In pain and running low on oxygen, he makes his way back to the habitat. Safely inside, he immediately tends to his injury, which involves procedures that are mildly graphic.

Shortly thereafter, Watney begins a videolog of his efforts to stay alive, which also serve as a kind of narration for the movie and a way to make the science and technical aspects accessible to the audience.

What follows after demonstrates Watney's heroic resolve as he makes a vow to stay alive. We see him take stock of the finite food supply, which he determines will keep him alive for a little over 365 sols; the unit of time by which the mission measures days. Realizing NASA has a follow-up, manned mission in four years, Watney formulates a long-term survival plan which involves finding a way to grow food in unsuitable Martian soil and a water source in which to feed it. How he manages to accomplish both is a testament to Watney's mind-boggling ingenuity.

Back on Earth, NASA mission personnel discover that Watney may in fact be alive after watching time-lapse satellite photos of the habitat, which shows the rover Watney has been driving parked in different locations. The possibility that Watney might be alive sets off a firestorm within NASA, which presents Sanders, Kapoor and Montrose with the problem as how to present such a development to the world. When satellite photos also record Watney's peripatetic wanderings in the rover, they begin devising a way to communicate with him, which is mainly abetted by another clever move on Watney's part, which involves a serendipitous moment in the film I won't reveal here.

How Watney communicates with Earth--NASA specifically, is another inspired sequence, which involves the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who designed most of the mission hardware. The JPL leader, Bruce Ng (Benedict Wong), becomes a key character in the film and an indispensable part of the effort to help Watney.

Aware of Watney's limited supply of food and life support, Sanders, Kapoor and Ng devise a way to resupply him before the next scheduled manned mission. Pushing ahead with a launch that circumvents testing procedures, the rocket fails but help arrives from an unlikely collaborator: the Chinese. Recognizing Watney's dire situation, the Chinese offer NASA a rocket of their own.

Not long after, the Hermes crew is finally apprised of the Watney's situation, which Sanders and Kapoor hoped to avoid. When the Hermes crew suggests a rescue, Sanders rejects the idea; citing the problem of adding an extra 580 sols to their mission. But the Hermes crew decides to forge ahead anyway, aware that their actions will be considered mutinous.

The rescue attempt in the gripping third act entails formidable maneuvering by both Watney and the Hermes crew, as well as the interplay between NASA and the JPL.

Like Interstellar, The Martian offers us a story both visionary and intelligent. Of course it helps to have an imaginative book and a brilliant adaptation from which to draw inspiration. Screenwriter Drew Goddard, who penned Cabin in the Woods and adapted World War Z, is the perfect choice to interpret Andy Weir's book. His dialogue scintillates and he sustains a refreshing level of intelligence; never dumbing the story down for a minute.

So many performances, particularly Matt Damon's, make the story seem so real and heartfelt. I especially enjoyed watching and listening to Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig's verbal sparring.

I had mixed feelings about the disco soundtrack and the use of David Bowie's Starman but both give the film more human color and manage not to be too intrusive.

Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski gives us a very realistic-looking Martian landscape; both mysterious and beautiful. I'm guessing the Jordan desert stood in for Mars; the rocky crags can also be seen in Lawrence of Arabia .

NASA may want to thank Ridley Scott for the film. It may single-handedly rekindle interest in a Mars mission.

Aside from the great story, the stunning visuals and the superlative acting, one of the film's major strengths is its ability to stimulate one's interest in science. Botany, physics, astronomy, biology, as well as mathematics and engineering, are made exciting and sexy.

In spite of Watney's troubles, the idea of setting foot on Mars is irresistible. When he sits in the desert, contemplating the alien surroundings, it's hard not to think about how this will become reality in a decade or two.

Scott's film is some kind of marvel and easily one of the year's best. It is an exhilarating adventure and a paean to human tenacity and ingenuity. It is also one of the few films I've seen this year I would consider seeing a second time in a theater. I just may do that.