Matt Damon in the Ridley Scott film ‘The Martian’

When the movie The Martian (2015) hit the big screen, I wasn’t familar with the work of Andy Weir. It was Weir who wrote the fictional account of astronaut Mark Watney getting left behind and suspected dead on the surface of the planet Mars in his book titled The Martian. It turns out that this first novel by Weir garnered the interest of film director Ridley Scott and a stellar cast of actors in support of a film that offered an engaging tale with intrigue, emotion, tension and characters that most people can like.

(From left to right on the top row are Jessica Chastain as Melissa Lewis, Aksel Hennie as Alex Vogel and Matt Damon as Mark Watney in The Martian. From left to right on the bottom row are Sebastian Stan as Chris Beck, Kate Mara as Beth Johanssen and Michael Peña as Rick Martinez in the film The Martian).

The film, written for the big screen by Drew Goddard, opens with the crew of the Ares III on the 18th day of their 31-day mission to Acidalia Planitia on the surface of Mars. A late-breaking dust storm threatens to topple the crews means for leaving the surface of Mars, so the crew hustles to leave when confronted with the storm. When astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, is struck by debris that makes him look dead, mission commander Melissa Lewis, played by Jessica Chastain, orders the crew to leave Watney behind.

(Kristen Wiig as Annie Montrose, left, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor in the film The Martian).

Once on the journey home aboard the vehicle Hermes, the remaining crew of Lewis, Alex Vogel as played by Aksel Hennie, Chris Beck as played by Sebastian Stan, Beth Johanssen as played by Kate Mara, and Rick Martinez as played by Michael Peña are unaware that Watney survived for more than three months of a journey back to Earth. In fact, it is roughly 40-days later that the director of Mars missions, Vincent Kapoor, and the people of Earth learn the truth. Kapoor is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.

(From left to right are Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park, Sean Bean as Mitch Henderson and Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders in the film The Martian).

After a very public funeral held for Watney, it was satellite planner Mackenzie Davis that identifies Watney in fact was very much alive. Davis, as played by Mindy Park, notices changes at Acidalia Planitia that leads to the realization that Watney had survived. It was action by Watney before this point that kept him alive.

(From left to right are Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders, Donald Glover as Rich Purnell, and Sean Bean as Mitch Henderson in the film The Martian).

NASA director of media relations Annie Montrose, as played by Kristen Wiig, helps NASA director Teddy Sanders, played by Jeff Daniels, and other leaders through the story of The Martian. Mitch Henderson, the Hermes flight director concerned with the well-being of the crew flying back home to Earth, is played by Sean Bean. Sanders, Henderson, Kapoor, and members of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including Bruce Ng and Rich Purnell, do not see eye-to-eye on many of the decisions for getting Watney back to Earth alive. Ng is played by Benedict Wong while Purnell is played by Donald Glover.

(Director Ridley Scott, left, and Benedict Wong who portrayed Bruce Ng, on the set of the film The Martian).

Film director Ridley Scott was criticized for a lack of Asian Americans in The Martian, as shown in this article in Variety. The roles of Mindy Park and Vincent Kapoor are singled out by the article. It is noteworthy that the Venkat Kapoor in the novel became Vincent Kapoor in the movie. Additionally, Andy Weir indicated that the book envisions Park as Korean American.

(Matt Damon as Mark Watney in The Martian).

The Martian was an entertaining one for me. The popular culture references in the movie at times made me laugh as well as playfully cringe. The story itself didn’t take itself too seriously. The ingenuity required to keep the story moving along while glossing over some of the substantial problems required in making the story work were not minor. Being able to set many of those aside, including the narrative one of skipping over seven-months of time for the sake of moving the story along, definitely weren’t small points. That said, I landed on a rating of 3.75-stars, on a scale of one-to-five, for the movie The Martian.

Matt – Wednesday, February 25, 2020

Will Smith and Clive Owen in the Ang Lee film ‘Gemini Man’

The movie Gemini Man (2019) deserves better than the box office gate this film feels like it is going to receive. The reception from critics are doing nobody any favors when it comes to a movie that deserves better than the press is giving this film. Go see the movie Gemini Man.

(Benedict Wong as Baron, left, and Will Smith as Henry Brogan in the film Gemini Man).

The movie Gemini Man itself begins with a strong introduction to the action film that it is. Will Smith stars as Henry Brogan, an assassin at the top of his field seeking to retire. The initial mystery following Henry’s decision to retire is the larger question of why walking away into the sunset would not be a satisfactory outcome to whomever seems to have placed hit on his head.

(Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Danny Zakarweski in the film Gemini Man).

Danny Zakarewski, as played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, is tasked with surveiling Henry as Henry visits a friend by boat. Circumstances quickly change, bringing the lives of Danny, Henry and others into question. An alliance between Danny and Henry are formed, with a trip oversees that introduces us to Baron, as portrayed by Benedict Wong.

(Clive Owen as Clay Verris, left, and Will Smith as Junior in the film Gemini Man).

The film itself is cinematically stunning, which in parts introduces the audience to the characters of Junior as played by Will Smith and Clay Verris as played by Clive Owens. The larger drama partly deals in the backstories of Verris, Brogan, Baron and Junior while layering more intrigue than it is fair to divulge for those who haven’t seen the film.

(Gemini Man director Ang Lee).

Ang Lee directed this film, which has meant a more ponderous and intelligent take on the psychological complexities of the characters. Perhaps the Ang Lee film Ride with the Devil (1999) performs better in the complexity regard, though both have had the visually stunning yet lacking emotional depth critique leveled at them. My sense is that this film, for as hard as some find following the action in some of the fight scenes, is that it performs better than some are granting. I enjoyed the film, acknowledging that I would have liked something a bit more from the story of Junior to help bring some emotional heft to the movie experience. My grade for Gemini Man is 3.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, October 26, 2019