Ridley Scott isn't a director many associate with humour. The most memorable levity in his past work is probably courtesy of Oliver Reed in Gladiator, who had a certain kind of charisma and got all the driest dialogue. Many of Scott's films have a cold and distant feeling where characters lack humanity, and it's not just those with androids in the cast. So, it's an interesting change of pace when this story about a mission to Mars gone wrong includes plenty of humour. It's full of sarcasm and is sprinkled with moments that allow for a joke or a pithy remark. Its also got a licensed soundtrack coupled with the work of Harry-Gregson Williams which adds to this atmosphere. But... this is a story about facing death alone on a desolate planet with a small chance of survival. Like the equipment employed by Matt Damon's astronaut there are a few structural weaknesses to be found.
After an accident the crew of the Ares III abandon their research station and return to the ship, leaving botanist Mark Watney behind. Stranded with long periods of time before anyone realises he survived, and longer until supplies or a rescue can be sent, he must use his scientific knowledge to find ways to stay alive. The clock is ticking as the rations left by the team dwindle and ways of generating power and creating a oxygen must be found. This stuff is the core of the plot, it's what gets your attention. Watney breaks up the tension by playing music and making video recordings of his efforts with a sense of humour, but this is a survival story. It would be foolish to think this was going to be an existential nightmare like Moon but there's enough drama here despite the optimistic tone draining some of the tension.
The movie looks great, though at times the Martian landscape feels a little too much like an Earth desert with a few filters added to add yellows and reds. Perhaps photos taken by real life probes make the planet look a lot more barren and desolate. There are good visual effects, intricate costumes, and some great zero gravity moments. Perhaps the space suits being used look too expensive for something used by a public agency, but it's still visually interesting. A lot of time is given solving problems like setting up communications, building vehicle batteries that last more than a few hours, and increasing food supplies. The lone struggle against a hostile atmosphere is what works best here.
The problem is the rest of the film and the a the B-plot happening back at NASA. It's a big distraction from a narrative perspective, but on top of that it has a lot of characters played by a large ensemble which includes Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean and Jeff Daniels, among many others. Sure, we need to see how they communicate with Mars and hatch a rescue plan, but there are so many boardroom meetings about PR and budgets that should have been cut. This is all before the focus moves back the Ares crew and their journey. The film feels way too long and should have been a 100 minute story about Watney's potato crops. You get plenty of that, but momentum is lost whenever they cut back to the people who have the luxury of using water to wash with. It's fun, it's often dramatic, but overall there's a lot of excess that needs trimming.
3/5
BONUS REVIEW
SICARIO
Sicario (Hitman) is a story of the US battle with drug cartels south of the border. Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, an FBI field agent on the front line of this fight, kicking in doors and discovering the horrors of what goes on inside homes used by criminals. They have no qualms cutting limbs and hanging bodies in public to show their dominance. Eager to get back at the people who set her team up on a bust gone wrong she volunteers to join a shady Department of Defence operation, looking to hit them on their own turf. Who these people are and what their true aims might be soon becomes unclear, as the line between right and wrong becomes blurred. Kate soon begins to worry about her role in all of this when information is withheld and the results of the operation start to look less than lawful.
Like Zero Dark Thirty it's a story that sets up a very grey area in which government agencies operate, and it even includes similar night-vision point of view sequences as the agents operate in the shadows. However, unlike that story with its notable lack of audience guidance, Kate and her partner (Daniel Kaluuya) are always present as a moral compass, questioning the validity of the work. Visually it's very impressive with stand out work by cinematographer Roger Deakins. In the finale the silhouettes of the operatives sinking beneath the horizon into the shadows is incredibly striking, as are many other moments which amplify Denis Villeneuve's direction. The last few sequences undermine this constant sense of dread a little when focus shifts to different characters, and it's distracting when things start to feel less realistic and the reason for the story's title is cemented. But it's still a very intense affair for the most part.
4/5
