What is it about?
Like ET, a man on a strange planet wants to go back home. Sadly he doesn’t have a shiny index finger. So he has to do it the cowboy way.
Was is it really about?
After Private Ryan (Matt Damon) had to be taken from Normandy in World War 2, it is now Mars from which he must be rescued. And once again, the life of one person stands above the lives of several people.
The Matt Damon must already be very valuable. And he is, Matt Damon as Mark Watney – the space cowboy. A cool guy, always a snappy saying on his lips. It’s hard to believe that someone like him is a botanist. Does he also talk to the plants in such a cool way? Doesn’t matter. You just have to like him!
I liked him too, this illegitimate son of MacGyver. Someone who creates a breeding ground for a potato farm out of fecal sludge & Martian soil; someone who gains a communication platform to Earth by means of a reactivated Mars lander; someone who isn’t afraid to take plutonium for a ride. It’s fascinating to watch him successively build a makeshift livelihood on Mars and explore an escape route through small-scale experiments with the help of NASA. The first half in particular is characterized by this. From the middle, the plot focuses more on the events & problems of NASA to bring Mark Watney back to Earth.
So far so good, so exciting, so interesting and also surprisingly NASA-critical. But tragically, the plot culminates in a disgustingly over-the-top Hollywood blockbuster finale that robbed me of my fascination with all the characters and their actions. There I missed the rational thought patterns of scientists, who hardly sacrifice their own lives for another human being in such a way (!). Unfortunately, the finale falls apart in the clumsy noise boom boom wohooo.
Also, when Mark Watney directly after his explosive, spectacular rescue brings ad hoc a snappy saying, I would have liked to scream at the screen. Couldn’t Mark at least have been a bit more human and less cowboy in that situation? Just collapse with relief? Or hugged his old crew for joy? The man has been isolated on Mars for several months, he has had to endure the worst existential fears; and at the moment when his hope of rescue has finally been fulfilled, he utters a flippant line. Without me, I’m out of there.
The following epilogue was even more cruel. There, the stupid viewer seriously still needs to be explained what Watney’s perseverance strategy was. “Always think in small steps, set small goals.” Yada yada. Really? The movie wants to let me out of the theater with that kind of regular philosophy? Oh please, I’m not 5 anymore. This really annoyed me and it doesn’t fit the film in any way to vomit such ranting over the viewer at the end.
The star-studded cast can be ranked anywhere from embarrassing to good. Except for Matt Damon, because he plays terrific. I hadn’t even considered him before, because I only thought he was really good in Team America. But he gives a great performance – he can’t do anything for the finale. Chastain, Ejiofor play routinely, but are hardly challenged. Jeff Daniels and Bean are hilarious – apparently Bean doesn’t only have roles in which he dies for nothing; he can definitely do better. Donald Glover remains Troy (here without Abed) and now acts as if he knows something about astrodynamics – fine by me. Kate Mara is quite cute with her sweet mouse face, but I don’t buy the role. Then I’d rather take Chastain. The rest of the cast is negligible.
The direction is okay – not really outstanding. Ridley Scott has not birthed another pipe-cracker, but his golden years definitely seem to be over. Despite the long running time and the many storylines, something always seemed to be missing to me.
Too bad, because the 144 minutes felt like 90 minutes. A few more minutes certainly wouldn’t have hurt. Perhaps an alternate edit, replacing the last 30 minutes with more scenes on Mars.
I haven’t read the accompanying book by Andy Weir (unfortunately?).
Conclusion
You want Hollywood, you get Hollywood.
Crew
Original Title
Length
Director
Cast
The Martian
144 Min
Ridley Scott
Matt Damon as Mark Watney
Jessica Chastain as Melissa Lewis
Kristen Wiig as Annie Montrose
Kate Mara as Beth Johanssen
Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders
Michael Peña as Rick Martinez
Sean Bean as Mitch Henderson
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor
Benedict Wong as Bruce Ng
Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park
Donald Glover as Rich Purnell
What is Stranger’s Gaze?
The Stranger’s Gaze is a literary fever dream that is sensualized through various media — primarily cinema, which I hold in high esteem. Based on the distinctions between male and female gaze, the focus is shifted through a crack in a destroyed lens, in the hope of obtaining an unaccustomed, a strange gaze.
The Stranger's Gaze 