You get the impression that Ridley Scott read Andy Weir's 2011 hit sci-fi survival novel The Martian -- with its detailed descriptions of chemical reactions, planetary orbits and zero gravity mechanics -- and came to the same conclusion that protagonist Mark Watney does: "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this."
The Martian does, more than any film in recent memory -- even Interstellar, with its painstakingly recreated black holes -- put the 'sci' back into sci-fi. Yet, in doing so, it somehow manages to be a witty, entertaining drama -- think Castaway meets Gravity– and is Ridley Scott's best film in more than a decade.
For those who haven't read the book or watched the fairly spoiler-filled trailers, The Martian has a simple premise: Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind on the red planet when his Nasa mission is cut short by a violent storm. With no way home, he's forced to find a way to survive until his colleagues back on Earth can rescue him. Cue the science, as Watney (a botanist) tries to find a way to grow food and survive, while his Nasa colleagues back home -- led by Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and later, Donald Glover -- after learning of their mistake, scramble to build a new spacecraft to save him.
Much of the film's success is down to Damon, wisecracking -- "In your face, Neil Armstrong" -- in the face of surely crushing loneliness and peril. The rest of the impressive cast is also engaging: from Nasa's ground staff (including Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Kristen Wiig) to Watney’s crew, led by Jessica Chastain. The script by Drew Goddard manages to juggle the explain-like-I'm-five science with an added level of emotional heft without delving too far into mawkishness. It's also beautiful, with the Jordanian desert standing in for the vast, echoless expanses of Acidalia Planitia.
But the greatest achievement of The Martian is how far it, more than any sci-fi in recent memory, strives to make space cool again. Not only does it largely avoid dumbing down its source text, or champion men and women (!) who solve problems with their intellects.
We live in a world in which Nasa is a shadow of its former self and the future of manned space flight rests upon Silicon Valley billionaires. Yet here is a film where Nasa is not only sending up Mars missions, but the whole planet unites to innovate a solution to save one man. The scenes of crowds gathering in Times Square and Trafalgar Square, enraptured by live-streams of astronauts, would seem overly sentimental -- if we hadn't already lived through the Moon landings. That "Bring Him Home" tagline? More like "Fuck Yeah, Science".
That's a good thing. Because The Martian doesn't just prove there is still such thing as a smart blockbuster. It also sends a message to both kids and politicians: science is hard, expensive, and yes, sometimes things explode. But one day it just might save your life.
The Martian is out on September 30.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
