The Martian

Movie Review Written by Adolph Vega

3D

This is one of the most difficult movies to review the 3d element for. At times throughout the movie the 3d element was dramatically in how it’s presented. At times the movie looks fantastic in 3d and other times the 3d element is a minor factor. One scene with the dust storm was fantastic in 3d and gave you a real sense of being in a dust storm. Some of the scenes in Mars look very nice and give you a nice sense of actually being on the planet with vast landscapes and such. The several scenes in space work really well too as you see objects floating around in three-dimensional space. Most of the movie is dialogue between characters and takes place on earth or Mars and the 3d in these scenes are not remarkable. Maybe 45% of the 3d is forgettable, 40% is great and 15% is good. At the end of the day I enjoyed the 3D element of this movie but a significant portion of this movie the 3D isn’t memorable, so overall the 3D presentation is nice but not necessary.

Final Verdict: Good 3D

Movie

" The Martian " is one of my favorite science fiction released in recent years. Recently I believe the genre of science fiction had a reassurance with quality film making with fantastic storylines and this movie is an example of quality science fiction. In this movie humanity has already visited Mars and a select few humans are researching the planet. The movie begins with a human crew on the planet Mars gathering soil samples; suddenly a massive sandstorm causes the crew to evaluate the area.

Unfortunately the sandstorm causes an accident and one person is left on Mars. The person left behind is Mark Watney played by Matt Damon and he must find a way to survive on Mars on his own. The movie splits its time almost equally on Mars and Earth. The scenes on earth revolve around planning a rescue mission to help Mark Watney. The segments of the movie on Mars with Mark are stronger scenes and more fascinating as he struggles to survive on this harsh planet with the limited supplies he has available. The segments of the movie on Earth are mostly political drama with NASA officials and are a tad boring. The cast of this movie is huge which is a double-edged sword. The acting of Matt Damon is fantastic and he is very funny and entertaining and makes for a captivating character. The rest of the cast includes the executive staff of NASA (on Earth), the other Martian crew members who are in space traveling back to earth and a group of scientists who are trying to help the Martian left behind and the executive staff at NASA.

Overall I enjoyed this cast and thought the acting was well done but with a cast of a dozen or so people it's hard to follow the story at times and many of the characters are not given proper introduction or development. Honestly I lost track of several of the names of the characters. The movie also has some pacing problems as some scenes seem to drag on and others seem to be way too short. Most of the time Mark Watney is making video diaries of his life on Mars and these scenes are funny and charismatic, but I wanted to see more of him coping with the isolation and loneliness of being on Mars. I know this sounds cruel but Mark’s mental state is underplayed aspect of the movie. I know he is attempting to survive but how does he cope with the vast boredom? The movie is much more of a comedy than I initially expected. The cinematography and special effects are fantastic and make the red planet scenes come alive. The various space scenes are well choreographed and very entertaining and intriguing. The movie sadly ends with a very out of place epilogue that feels out of place. The movie feels too long and many aspects could have been consolidated to make a tighter narrative. I had some problems with the movie but overall I still found many aspects of this movie enjoyable and intriguing.

Many times the science techno babble parts of this movie are given more of a focus then other similar movies which gives it an authentic and realistic tone. I am not a rocket scientist; engineer, botanist or an expert on astrophysics so many of the science elements presented within this movie went over my head. None of the science seemed too far-fetched and made enough sense for a novice like myself to understand and seem believable. I have not read the book this movie is based on so my opinion is not based on any comparison of that original novel. I have issues with the movie but overall it's still a wonderful science fiction movie and shouldn’t be missed.

Final Verdict: 8/10

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