The Martian: castaway with plenty of gravity

I was bit doubtful to go for The Martian. Survival film appeals little for me. I would rather go for natural disaster flick. However, once in a while there are a few that worth to be mentioned though not on my top list of must-watch. Castaway could be the yardstick for all survival story, but tad bit boring. I do like Tom Hanks but watching him for the whole 2 hours is bit too long. The recent Gravity has one of the best cinematography with breathtaking space scenes. However, not everyone would root for Sandra Bullock in the movie, and the whole show felt "sterile". I'm happy to say that Martian excel in most departments and end up being an enjoyable film if we can suspend our belief slightly.


Matt Damon practically carries the whole show, and he is lucky that he is indeed likable. He plays a botanist who was left stranded in Mars, while his teammate thought he was dead after an accident. The rest of the whole chronicles how he survived in the lonely planet while people at earth struggle to rescue him. The whole show is about survival instinct, human fighting spirit and innovation. Did I say that one must suspend our believes a bit? Though the explanation given for every science in the movie probably are possible, but how could one be so resourceful, and so good in practically everything? It is like watching a McGyver episode, but in space. Botanist planting potato in Mars? Bit far fetch but believable, but botanist fixing vehicle, botanist messing with radioactive elements, botanist practically fixing some space equipments? Wow, NASA training must be change each one of the astronaut to be McGyver.


Forget about those natural disaster scene, this show is more about human survival instinct. However, the balance of Damon and those back at earth actually made the film enjoyable. The script was light, rather than going for those philosophical depth lines, which is good. I cant help but cheer when Damon was rescue at the climax of the film. ( Come on, that could not be a spoiler, everyone would expect the hero to survive, right?!) It totally deserve the high rating in Rotten Tomatoes.


ratings: 4 poink~!
comments: finally they found the winning formula for this genre. While I do enjoy Castaway, I felt Gravity was overrated, but Martian is the best of the lot.