140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
If you haven’t read the book, you’ll love it almost without qualification. If you have, it can never be as satisfying, but it’s still great.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Martian:
Everyone wants to be first; it feels good to be thought of as an insider, to have exclusive, early access to things. Well, sometimes it can help not to be on the bleeding or even the leading edge. You get to have a little more perspective and are privy to later developments. At least that’s what I’m telling myself and it seems to be making me feel better at my lack of a-list status…
In the case of The Martian, yes, I got into the book fairly early on – enough to impress my better-read friends who hadn’t heard of it yet – but nowhere near as early as others. Besides, I didn’t get around to writing a review of the book until recently, nearly a year after reading it. And as my invitation to the premiere of the film seems to have gotten lost in the mail (along with all the press screening invites), I had to go see it on opening weekend by the usual expedient method of giving my local cinema a fistful of cash for tickets and popped corn.
Aside: actually my wife and I went to a theater we’d never been to before, East Bridgewater Cinemas 1-5, one of three theaters run by small, family-owned South Shore Cinemas (http://www.sscinemas.com) who also runs the little theater in our town. It was an older theater that had just received a substantial refurbishment with cushy rocker seats and was totally charming. I like the comforts of deep-pocketed modern multiplexes as much as the next guy, but I really love unique and local theaters where you can actually talk to the owner if you want. Support local and independent theaters!
The benefit here of writing the review two weeks after the release date is that I can comment on the recent criticism that The Martian is yet another example of “white-washing” ( http://variety.com/2015/film/news/the-martian-white-washing-asian-american-ridley-scott-1201614155/).
It’s really sort of an interesting comment on how for as much as I think of myself as an enlightened man, I can be as guilty of the white privilege perspective on life as anyone else. After seeing the film, was pleased with the multicultural cast that was appropriate for NASA. In fact, I actually considered the casting to be a little too obviously politically correct, as though the producers intentionally selected a diverse cast for reasons of perception rather than to follow the narrative particularly. That’s how skewed things are; I actually had a gut reaction that the filmmakers were cynically playing to impress when they were in fact just representing the human race.
So happy was I as the multicultural cast, I didn’t recognize that a number of characters had morphed into different races in the casting. Guess I’m not as enlightened as I thought. And we still have a lot of work to do…
Actually, the most surprising thing about the casting to me at the time it was announced was how many heavy-hitters had signed on for what I considered very small roles. Why would all these serious actors be interested in being in the film for such a small amount of time? Well, the answer to this explains the only real criticism I have of the film – there’s just not enough of Mark Watney’s story. Let me explain…
From my review of the original novel by Andy Weir, you know I absolutely loved The Martian. It was a masterful fusion of hard science and classic adventure fiction in the vein of Robert Louis
Stevenson. The solitary adventures of the stranded astronaut were fascinating and page-turning, the spell-binding narrative augmented with the occasional interludes of the crew who left him behind and the scientists hoping to bring him home.
But it was a lengthy book that necessarily had to be shortened in order to make it into a feature film. My issue is that what they chose to shorten is the astronaut’s story. In service of creating an engaging film, they made the quite defensible choice to abridge the lengthy segments of Watney talking to himself in favor of a more rounded narrative utilizing the supporting cast. It’s really not a bad solution, and probably the way to go. But it does rob the story of some of the consequence.
In the novel, the story is quite simply more epic. Watney’s struggle to survive against incredible odds is truly amazing. The time constraints of the film slightly minimize his efforts. It’s as simple as that. After talking to people who just saw the film, I repeatedly have been imploring them to read the book; “if you think that was unbelievable, read the novel – he was even more screwed than you realize”.
By shortening the admittedly still very significant screen time of the protagonist, the obvious result is that the supporting characters get beefed up. I don’t believe any of the actions or scenes with the other characters were added to the film; it’s simply addition by subtraction. It’s all there, but the way the focus of a story can be changed by selective editing is a good reminder to us all how crucial the role of editing is in filmmaking.
The other interesting byproduct of this trimming down is that in some ways the story is a little less believable onscreen – without the benefit of the lengthy details about everything that had to happen in this improbable tale, audiences who didn’t read the book may be left with the impression that some things are “too Hollywood”. It’s not the case, but there were moments that struck me as a little too pat in the film, even though I never questioned them in the novel.
Let me emphasize, I think the filmmakers did a great job with the adaptation within the time constraints they had; I simply feel that they shouldn’t have had those constraints. The thought that kept coming to me during the film and has stayed with me since? “This would make a near perfect mini-series.”
Think about how great this story would have been, broken up over ten 1-hour episodes on TV. That’s a free idea, Hollywood. I’m happy to draft a shooting script for you, too. I’m not cheap but I can be had …
The Martian is a near perfect adaptation of a brilliant source novel. The acting is fantastic, the visuals are breathtaking (DP Dariusz Wolski) as is the sound design and effects. If it would possibly make a better series than a feature film, it remains the best possible film version that could have been made. It isn’t dumbed down or jazzed up – it remains remarkably faithful to Weir’s book. NASA gets big ups from the new focus on their mission (which it wholeheartedly deserves; they’ve also done a nice job running with the extra attention) and it will almost certainly inspire more than a few young people to pursue STEM careers. Highly recommended. Now go read the book…
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Matt Damon Mark Watney Jessica Chastain Melissa Lewis Kristen Wiig Annie Montrose Kate Mara Beth Johanssen |
| Rating | PG-13 |
| Release Date | Fri 02 Oct 2015 UTC |
| Director | Ridley Scott |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 141 |
| Tagline | Bring Him Home |
| Writers | Andy Weir (book), Drew Goddard (screenplay) |
| Year | 2015 |
