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.

Ant-Man

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Peyton Reed/Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Bobby Cannavale, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Judy Greer, Corey Stoll, Abby Ryder Fortson and Martin Donovan

If you thought you had seen the last of the summer superhero flicks after The Avengers: Age of Ultron, you might disappointed/delighted to find another offering from Marvel Studios in the theaters this week: Ant-Man. I find myself a member of the delighted camp (with reservations) and must say I mostly liked the movie. Much of that has to do with the more humorous approach of director Peyton Reed's story and the very welcome refrain from apocalyptic destruction other Marvel adaptations visit upon movie-going audiences. Meaningless, mindless carnage is kept to a bare minimum and sometimes, as in the case of a battle on a toy train-set, the action can be funny.

And who better to play the title character than Paul Rudd, the funny-man doofus who seems cast against type. But in a movie that prides itself on being cheeky, Rudd is the ideal choice to keep the story and action from becoming self-serious and earnest.

Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang; a parolee who has just served a sentence for robbing a corporate giant in an attempt to compensate everyone who was bilked by the company. Educated as a mechanical engineer, Lang's smarts can't protect him from a post-parol job at Baskin Robbins, where he is summarily dismissed when his boss learns of his criminal past. Unable to earn a living, Lang decides to commit another robbery with help of sketchy associates, who provide even sketchier information about a safe supposedly loaded with treasure.

Lang is reluctant to commit another crime, given the fact he has been unable to see his daughter Cassie (Abbie Ryder Fortson), from whom he is denied contact by his ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer, in a role that barely registers as a blip), and her new husband Paxton (Bobby Cannavale, a more substantial character), who is a less than accommodating.

Faced with destitution and eager to earn money to maintain a lifestyle that would enable him to see his daughter, Lang agrees to the robbery plan hatched by he and his three friends; Luis (Michael Pena), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (T.I.). Unfortunately, Lang finds the robbery is part of an elaborate plan by the scientist Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to allow an amazing suit of his own design to be stolen by the ex-convict, for reasons that become clearer later. The suit allows the wearer to shrink to the size of an ant but still retain his/her full-sized strength.

When the film begins, we see Pym twenty years earlier, when his corporation still bore his name. Faced with an unscrupulous executive board who want to sell his suit technology to the military, Pym refuses to share his plans lest the suit falls into enemy hands. As a result, Pym is dismissed from his position but buries the plans, though the board carries on the research, hoping to find or discover the key component of the suit.

Back in the present and unbeknownst to Lang, Pym wants the ex-convict to use his burgling expertise to steal the suit his former corporation has developed from his original plans. The new suit also enables the wearer to shrink to the size of an insect (in this case, a yellow jacket) but unlike Lang's, the yellow jacket suit comes equipped with weaponry.

Pym's daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) becomes a willing participant in the imminent theft of the yellow jacket, though her involvement represents a conflict of interest, due to her employment with Pym's former company. Hope was part of the voting majority that helped dismiss her father from Pym Industries. For Hope, the theft not only means stopping the sale of the suit to the military, but the plan also serves as means to reestablish relations with her father.

It is great fun watching Lang learn to use the ant suit. In an exercise where Lang is expected to run at full speed then pass through a keyhole and re-materialize in normal proportions, Lang crashes into the door repeatedly. Lang also learns that Pym has also developed a communications device that allows him to issue commands to ants, who will play key roles in the robbery attempt. Hope teaches Lang about the different varieties of ants he is to work with and how to command them to perform certain tasks.It is not uncommon for Lang to accidentally revert to normal size in the ant tunnels; an amusing development that allows us to chuckle at the sight of Lang's upper body suddenly sprouting up from the ground.

Another highly entertaining sequence involves a task Dr. Pym devises to further test Lang's skills in the ant suit. He assigns him a mission to steal an item from Stark Industries; a piece of technology he designed that is now in the hands of Tony Stark. Lang is dismayed to discover the complex he is asked to break into has been converted into Avengers' headquarters. The subsequent scenes where Black Falcon tries to prevent Ant-Man (Lang) from breaking into the complex demonstrates the ant suit's effectiveness. Black Falcon finds Ant-Man's constant shrinking and ability to punch a exasperating, in spite of his own technologically-sophisticated suit.

Pym's and Lang's nemesis is current CEO of what was formerly Pym Industries; Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who has few qualms about exploiting the technology Dr. Pym developed.

The latter half of the story is the elaborate plan to steal back the suit Cross keeps securely inside corporate headquarters. Ant-Man leads an assault of ants as they ride a wave of water into the complex to locate the suit, only to find Cross has donned it himself. A showdown between Ant-Man and Yellow-Jacket follows soon after, which carries on beyond corporation property and ultimately into his former wife's home, where Cross hopes to kidnap Lang's daughter. A fierce battle ensues, which takes partly on a train set; an action sequence that comes with its own humorous moments.

Of course the film couldn't end without what has become a staple in Marvel adaptations; the sequel set-up. I will say no more.

As previously stated, the idea to make the movie action/comedy was a sound idea. The world doesn't need one more comic book movie with gravitas (though more are to come, I'm sure). It's nice to see a lighter superhero movie; one that doesn't leave one's ears ringing and head splitting with auditory aggression.

And unlike most superhero movies, performances are more the centerpiece of this film. Paul Rudd has to be one of the most likeable screen presences in the movie industry today but also one of the funniest. I'm glad we'll see more of him in Ant-Man films to come. Michael Douglas isn't an actor one usually finds Marvel adaptations but he proves to be as entertaining as Rudd. It was very pleasing to see Martin Donovan (always a welcome presence. I always thought him to be underrated and under-appreciated actor), who plays Mitchell Carson; another unscrupulous board member who is a collusive agent of Darren Cross' evil designs. Evangeline Lilly is charming and shares some nice chemistry with Rudd. We also learn we can expect to see more of her in future iterations.

One of the most inspired scenes in the movie shows Lang shrinking to the quantum level, after Pym warns him that entering such a realm may mean an eternity in sub-atomica. The sequence is visually imaginative and abstractly arresting while also providing sustained suspense.

I won't tell you Ant-Man is brilliant popcorn cinema but it is fun and diverting and a good excuse to seek refuge from angry summer weather. It appears we may see Scott Lang and Tony Stark together in the near future. It could be fun to watch Scott Lang and Tony Stark--the other funny Marvel superhero--engage in some amusing repartee. We'll wait and see. For now, I'll savor Reed's flick.

Fury

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: David Ayer/Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and John Bernthal

David Ayer, the helmsman behind the gritty 2012 cop drama End of Watch, brings a grittier film to theaters with the World War II story Fury. If you thought Saving Private Ryan was a bloody, violent affair, you might find Ayer's film more so. I don't know that I've seen a grimier, filthier, more brutal depiction of war. But the visuals aren't the only element that overpowers, the sound was also fairly extraordinary. Every explosion from ordnance and every discharge from a tank barrel rattled my seat. Fury leaves almost no sense unstimulated. Ayer makes certain the audience knows war is frightening, ugly business, and he succeeds exceptionally well in that regard. There is hardly a moment where one feels the characters are far removed from the savagery of battle. Ayer maintains a heightened sense of fear; allowing the audience to feel the soldier's anxieties and dread.

But the movie also borrows too heavily from many other war films. We're left with a technically and visually arresting film whose story succumbs often to cliche.

Titles before the film inform us that American tanks were outgunned and lacked the heavy armor of their German counterparts. The implicit message in this factoid is that American tank crews were very brave but the information also helps create an atmosphere of anxiety.

Brad Pitt plays Sargent Don "Wardaddy" Collier, a battle-hardened tank commander whose tank crew has seen action in every major American/British offensive; North Africa, D-Day and now the push into Germany.

His crew has just fought a ferocious battle where bodies and carnage litter the landscape. In the collection of wreckage, Collier emerges from his possum-playing tank to stab a German officer in the eye, who happens to be wandering among the smoldering, ruined tanks. We gather from Collier's gruesome act that the depictions of battle will be unsparingly grisly.

Collier's tank crew has just lost a gunner and has arrived at a camp to take on a new recruit; a former clerk/typist named Norman (Logan Lerman), whose appalling lack of experience disgusts the entire unit. Collier and his crew are dirty, tired and ragged and have the look of soldiers who have seen too much war. The crew is also gruff, edgy, war-weary and bear a ferocious hatred of anyone in a German uniform.

Collier's crew is made up of Boyd "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf), who mans the main gun and is given to quoting Bible verse; Trini "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Pena), who mans one of the machine guns and Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis (John Bernthal), the gun-loader with a heavy southern accent. The crew has seen a lot together and like Collier, have little patience for Norman's inexperience.

Collier orders Norman to clean the machine gunner's seat inside the tank, which becomes a nauseating experience after the recruit finds the chair drenched in his predecessor's blood and half his face in a stew of bodily matter. Norman exits the tank to vomit-a justifiable response. We know Norman's innocence will eventually be shattered, along with his humane disdain for violence.

Collier's crew and the unit's tank, which bears the word "Fury" on its barrel, are commanded to take part in a search and destroy mission. Joining a convoy, Collier's tank proceeds slowly on a German road until the column passes a copse of trees. Norman sees a German soldier wielding an anti-tank weapon but doesn't shoot. The German fires at the tank ahead of Collier's, incapacitating it and causing the interior to ignite. American soldiers emerge from the burning interior, bodies ablaze and in the case of one soldier, a self-inflicted gunshot to the head precludes a lurid, fiery death. Collier is naturally livid with Norman for not firing his gun and when asked for an explanation, the recruit mentions the very young age of the enemy soldiers; some of them children. We know the encounter will be one lesson among many for the young gunner.

Shortly thereafter, we come to understand just how poorly armored and outgunned the American Sherman tanks were in battle as a much-feared German Tiger tank ambushes the four-tank unit. Repeated firing from the Sherman tanks merely glance off the substantially-armored Tigers and in the harrowing encounter, one turret is blown off its main body while in another American tank, a commander is decapitated by a German tank round. In the final hair-raising encounter, as Collier's Sherman faces the German monster alone, the American tank manages to make its way around to the Tiger's vulnerable rear area before crippling it. As the German tank crew emerges from the disabled tank, Collier and his men gun down the survivors.

In yet another battle, after the American army destroys another ambush, a German captive is paraded through the American soldiers. Collier sees the situation as an opportunity for Norman to execute the the soldier, thereby testing the new recruit's resolve and mettle.
It seems no war film of the past 30 years can resist the almost obligatory enemy soldier execution scene. We see it in Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan and now Fury. It's a tired go-to plot device and a cliche the film doesn't need.

The battle scenes are dazzling. Tracer fire zips back and forth between armies like a futuristic laser battle, tank shells ping off armor, tank treads roll mercilessly over dead bodies and mud seems to coat every soldier and mechanized surface, which ably serves the film's dirt and grim aesthetic.

After a significant incident involving two German women in a captured town, Collier and his men are ordered to guard strategic crossroads. When they arrive, a tank tread strikes a landmine, rendering the tank inert and leaving the tank without means to maneuver. To make matters worse, Norman spots an approaching German convoy--300 men strong. Rather than flee, Collier chooses to stand his ground. The puzzled crew joins him reluctantly, thus setting the stage for a climactic battle.

I liked so much about Fury but it is a film that often goes wrong. The execution scene aside, some dialogue rings unnatural and false and Ayers' script has Collier indulging in some war-movie philosophizing that strikes a discordant tone. Collier says to Norman: "Ideals are peaceful, history is violent." The statement seems too detached and very out of character for someone severely scarred by war.
I also found the final stand a Saving Private Ryan, against-heavy-odds-we-stand contrivance that seems very out place in a movie that works overtime to give the audience an authentic experience. I can't imagine battle-weary soldiers would fight against such heavy odds when they would be well within their rights to run. I'm not suggesting soldiers wouldn't be brave enough to take a stand, it just seems a character like Collier, who is doggedly-determined to see his crew survive, would be more sensible in such a situation.
And you're telling me 300 German soldiers, some armed with anti-tank weapons, couldn't surround or outflank one tank?

The character of Collier was plausibly established then betrayed by war movie cliches. In spite of said flaws, Brad Pitt's performance is fairly superlative. The rest of the cast are poorly served with stock characters and in the case of actor John Bernthal; he is saddled with a very broad, southern accent for a face that screams Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens. Every-time he opened his mouth, I expected a tough, New Yorky voice but was greeted with Huckleberry Finn instead. His performance, like that of the other cast-members, is hardly bad, but I think set design, sound design, visual effects and production design trumped characterization.

I came away from Fury quite impressed but hardly satisfied. It is a terrific technical film but makes a less-than-terrific artistic statement. It has many exceptional attributes but when it stumbles, it doesn't always recover.