¡®The Martian¡± (released in Japan as ¡°Odyssey¡°) is one of those movies where you kick yourself afterward for not having read the book first. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be going into this unprepared for the blasts of wondrousness, which hit you right in the eyes and light up the part of the brain?that delights in sci-fi-astronaut-survival stories. (Trust me, we all have that part in our brains.)
¡°The Martian¡± started as a blog by Californian techie Andy Weir. Due to popular demand, he published a version on Amazon Kindle where it then took off. Ridley Scott helms the movie: a gripping, fist-clenching adventure saga that takes place on the rust-colored planet we know as Mars. Scott reportedly consulted closely with NASA on the production design and landscape details, and as a result the film feels like an incredibly awesome science lecture delivered by a charismatic explorer. Mars is freezing, there¡¯s very little oxygen and zero water but after this, you may find yourself with a case of interplanetary wanderlust.
Matt Damon is the centerpiece of ¡°The Martian.¡± He plays Mark Watney, a NASA astronaut and botanist who¡¯s stranded on Mars alone after his crew members think he has been killed. It¡¯s up to Mark to gather his wits, deploy every shred of knowledge and the scant resources at his disposal to ¡°science the s¡ª- out of this.¡±?Somehow he must survive until the crew launch another mission and pick him up. Oh, but before that he needs to let everyone know that he¡¯s still around. ¡°Surprise!¡± he wisecracks into a video log, with the transmitter dead and, you know, no Wi-Fi on Mars. (There is, however, a stash of 1970s disco, thank God.)
¡°The Martian¡± is to moviegoers of today what ¡°2001: A Space Odyssey¡± was to audiences in 1968, when Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke fired up imaginations and stoked a longing for space exploration.?But Scott¡¯s rendition is more light-hearted and nerdy (an interesting departure from the director¡¯s dystopian space fantasy ¡°Alien¡°), and he clearly relishes every minute of the project. Perhaps it¡¯s because ¡°The Martian¡± is not about a space hero with designs to save the world (though Watney¡¯s space suit looks a lot like Buzz Lightyear¡¯s), but a lonely science geek trying to save himself and, in the process, share that knowledge with his co-workers.?If things went south, he could at least leave hard data and evidence material. Oh, what scientists will do to further ¡°the cause.¡°?Watch your mascara, ladies, this is a two-hanky affair.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 144 |
| Language | English, Mandarin |
| Opens | Now Playing |
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