The Martian

The Martian – 141min – PG13

Matt Damon is back in space and this time he has to find a way to survive on Mars for as long as it’s going to take to get a rescue mission to him. This movie is a great example of how an engaging story can let the time slip by unnoticed. It is also a great examination of the human spirit and the ingenuity of a person who makes a choice to survive. This is such a great movie, I am taking my son to go see it today. A green light film should have production value, spectacular performances and be engaging. This move has all of that.

The manned mission to Mars is interrupted by a storm and the crew gets the evacuation orders. During the evacuation, Mark Watney (MattDamon) is struck by debris his communication and vitals monitoring systems are destroyed. Believing that he has died the crew go on with the evacuation and start their four month journey back to earth. He wakes up alone, on Mars with limited resources he now has to find a way to survive.

Some standout performances were Jeff Daniels who spectacularly played the Director of NASA. Chiwetel Ejiofor was again unfairly outperforming everyone on screen with him. Sean Bean does not die in this movie and it’s nice to see him finish a film without a death scene. Jessica Chastain shines as the captain of the mars mission. Really the entire cast all had strong performances but these were the ones that I truly enjoyed. There wasn’t a weak or miscast player in this production.

Not being an astronaut or a botanist I have to say from the laymen’s view, the science works out just fine. I enjoyed watching the science unfold and how math and engineering and a team effort helped Mark survive. The choice he made to survive and how he did it was also a great life lesson. You are going to die unless you solve this problem, solve it and move to the next problem. The specter of death was always present but the ingenuity and drive of a man’s will to survive can overcome many obstacles.

Neal deGrasse Tyson gave his blessing on keeping the science accurate in a series of tweets. I think his approval of the film validates that a movie can be entertaining and accurate. What it gives me as a viewer is the thought of I could do that. Nothing Watney does  is fantasy or fudged to make it a better story. Science is entertaining as it is.

Not seeing the 3D version I am unable to comment if if it added to the experience. I know that for some films 3D is more of a distraction and takes away from the story. When it is applied as a gimmick it almost never ends well. I may have to go and check it out to see if my hypothesis is correct. I’ll let you know if the 3D is better than a regular showing.

I saw the 3D version and it added a little depth (pun intended)  but not enough to forgo the normal theatrical release.

The other effects in the film were done with care and don’t scream out that a CGI effect has been done. Mark’s emaciated body toward the end of the film as well as the floating debris in space blends in so well that they all enhance the imagery without drawing attention to themselves.

Mark’s sense of humor helps him a lot in the weeks and months alone. He makes logs to keep a chronicle of his journey and Matt Damon embodies that character well. His touches of sarcasm and mental acuity are played well that gives Mark a charm that draws you into his plight and engages you in his survival. You want him to live because you fall in love with how down to Mars he is.

I have been ordered to read the book by a friend who says that the book as a lot of humor in it. As I understand it there are a number of cut scenes. There are a lot more of Matt Damon cracking wise in character for the camera. I can’t wait for the blue ray to come out so I can see them.

What blue ray release have you waited for in hopes of great extra features? 

The Debt

The Debt – 113Min – R

This one is going to be hard for me. This move has some great story elements that I do not want to spoil it for you. Let me give you this much, it was a great espionage film that had the all the right elements. The stars did a wonderful job of making the movie entertaining and the story had you on the edge of my seat a few times. The overarching subplots are quite involved and they do a decent job of keeping the past and the present characters inline. I would say that the best part of the film is the dynamic between the characters. For overall entertainment value I give it a green light.

The movie starts off with a blending of flashback and current time. The story starts to come into focus as we see a party for a book release. The book follows the actions of Rachel (Helen Mirren) Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) and David (Ciaran Hinds) when they were younger. These three Mossad agents were on a mission to capture a Nazi war criminal in East Berlin. The younger versions were played by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Marton Coskas, respectively. The mission brings the three together in close quarters and under stress, they bond. The movie captures how events in the past come back to haunt the present. Everything we do has a price and sometime we must make amends

Director John Madden did a great job of taking the elements and blending the story together in an entertaining way. His films in the past, such as Shakespeare in Love to Proof, have focused more on human relationships. That experience shows in this film. This is defiantly more action-oriented than his previous films but he pulls it off.

The writing team that worked on this film’s screenplay also has an eclectic resume. Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman have worked on films like Kick Ass, X-men: First class and Stardust. Peter Straughan has worked on Men Who Stare at Goats, and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. This list does not really ring as one that could make a leap to espionage thriller, but they do good work in this film. I do think the end of the movie has a softer climax than it should, which you can see more about under the spoiler heading, but overall the whole movie was entertaining.

I have been very pleased with the work that Focus Features has done. Many of the films I have enjoyed have come from them. Now that I have started to look at the people who make the movies, I have a new perspective. Production companies that have done a great job in movie making keep popping up. I am going to have to keep my eye out for their next projects.

Warning: Spoilers!! Top Secret!!!

One of the most gripping scenes was when they were trying to get the doctor out of Germany. I was completely nervous on that scene. it was well times and everything was paced marvelously. They paced it like a heist movie, making sure that things had to hit right or everything was going to be lost.

I like Sam Worthington He is a fine actor, but throughout the film his accent was muddled and inconsistent. He did a great job showing the emotion and delivering the suffering, but the accent made me look like the RCA victor Dog. The casting on the older version of him was a bit off as well. His older self and younger self did not play convincingly enough.

I thought that the fight with the very old Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) and older Rachel was the failing in the ending. It is just not exciting to see them fight. I was much more concerned with her sneaking in to the news room and into the Hospital than I was with the fight. Perhaps have her meet the reporter and give him an interview after they find the Nazi dead would have been a better ending.

What is one movie that was told out of order that really entertained you? Tell me about it.