It's not that I have a problem with Damon or Scott, they are both the best at what they do. My problem is that The Martian is essentially a Sci-Fi film for the masses. So now everyone who would normally run from these kinds of movies will all of a sudden start calling themselves fans of this genre when in reality they are just fans of Matt Damon.
The best way I can explain it is, it's like my buddy who loves zombie flicks. He's been in love with them for decades, back when only fat geeks and chicks who couldn't afford makeup would fill the theaters to go see guts and brains spilling out of people in George Romero's classic masterpieces. But ever since AMC decided to add a ton of drama and beautiful looking actresses to the fold, everyone has now jumped on board and considers themselves to be fans of the genre simply because they watch The Walking Dead. Having these scrubs along for the ride makes it feel like its lost its sense of uniqueness and community, so to speak. Why can't you people just let us nerds hold on to what makes us nerds???
I could give you another example of how people who have loved Nine Inch Nails ever since Pretty Hate Machine came out consider Closer to be one of their least favorite songs for the same reason but I'll move on.
Now let me say right off the bat that The Martian is a solid movie. If Ridley Scott doesn't know how to do anything else, he definitely knows how to make a good Sci-Fi flick in space. And despite the fact Jeff Daniels is basically just playing Will McAvoy from The Newsroom in it, this film is loaded with talented actors.
The Martian is about Matt Damon being presumed dead when a dangerous storm appears out of nowhere while he and his team are exploring Mars on a NASA expedition. And in order to save the lives of the rest of the crew, the team's captain Jessica Chastain decides to leave his body behind so that they can get to safety before the storm reaches its deadly peak. But what they will later realize is that Damon did indeed survive and he is now left stranded on a planet that is over 54 million kilometers away from Earth.
So now you have to sit through two hours of Damon figuring out how to grow crops on a planet that isn't designed to do so while people on Earth try and come up with a way to get him back before he dies.
In this movie Scott decides to forgo showing any depressing or down on his luck moments with Damon as he instead focuses on showing his determination to succeed and stay alive in spite of all the obstacles he has to overcome. So despite the fact that he could suffocate, starve, or freeze to death at any time, he is surprisingly upbeat and cracking jokes when most people would simply be figuring out creative ways to masturbate with the space structures that surround them until it's time for their inevitable death to come.
I found this to be a rather enjoyable film and there are one or two moments in it that do get pretty intense, but in the end, it was far too upbeat for me. I rate this movie as FRESH and suggest you go see it with your grandmother; she will absolutely love the soundtrack! But for the real Sci-Fi geeks out there, just go watch Gravity, Moon, or Sunshine instead.
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