Bringing optimism, nerd-itude and a touch of crazy to his character's solo ordeal -- at one point, scraggly Watney calls himself a "space pirate" -- Damon is the key to the movie's exuberance.
While Weir's story, which screenwriter Drew Goddard adapted for Scott, may not be particularly profound -- we're not talking Blade Runner here, after all -- it is memorable. Which just shows you what a little attitude can accomplish.
As pure numbers-game suspense, the movie passes inspection, but the relative absence of soul searching... makes it seem a specious vehicle for the trumpeting of such human values as cooperation, perseverance, and self-sacrifice.
Packed with as much science-fact as it is with science-fiction, The Martian is a hugely ambitious story told with genuine heart. Matt Damon delivers a knockout performance, and this film marks Ridley Scott finally getting back to his best form.
The Martian plays to both Scott's strengths and weaknesses. By relegating Mark's predicament to a purely survivalist scenario, he keeps things humming along without ever widening the horizon. But there was an obligation to widen the horizon.
The Martian is a film about human error, the will to survive, and the responsibility that we have as human beings, not just to the work that we dedicate our lives to, but to one another as people.
Damon has never seemed more at home than he does here, millions of miles adrift. Would any other actor have shouldered the weight of the role with such diligent grace?
