NSFCCDP Movie Review: The Martian (2015) – Pretty good but predictable sci-fi [UPDATED]

Now, I have never claimed to be a big Matt Damon fan, and so I had a bit of reluctance to give him a chance in The Martian. m.poulet and I saw it a few nights ago and I was pleasantly surprised. Well, I am not going to get carried away though. It was an interesting movie with decent science, some great spfx, and OK acting. However, I hope we can all admit that it was highly predictable (like Gravity and Interstellar which were – let’s admit it – almost the same film). Now, like for Interstellar, I was rooting for Matt to get home (in stark contrast to Gravity where I still bemoan that the alternate ending of Sandra being eaten by Jaws at the end was apparently and wrongly rejected). He does come off as a boy scout – one with attitude and a foul mouth (which is fine with me to be honest), but a boy scout nonetheless. I did laugh at the botanist jokes and I did find the whole thing entertaining, but I felt that there was not that much at stake since again it was a foregone conclusion that there would be a happy ending. So, I am asking myself, that guy that figured out the math, who isn’t he given a little more credit at the end? And may I also express some disappointment in the missed opportunity to see a double moon sunrise or sunset? If I were Phobos, I’d be calling my agent and asking for an explanation, I mean Tatooine got the double moon shot and it doesn’t even exist! But I digress..

We have not been very lucky with SciFi this year in terms of quantity or quality so I’ll take this one and enjoy it. I am afraid of what Disney will do to Star Wars (perhaps a Darth Maur played by a Goofy with 6 legs or something?), but in the meantime, this gets a 3/5.0 rating from me.

Obnoxious product placement: Nespresso machines in the Hab and in the Hermes, really? and the Cisco logo on the various NASA television comm screens.

Side note: Anyone else see The Lobster with Colin Farrell? If so, what the hell was that about? What do the Town, The Hotel, and The Woods represent exactly? Is it a pessimistic film or an optimistic one? And what the hell animal did Heartless Woman become? Christ am I confused.