Ridley Scott has been hit and miss lately, but this is a hit and I recommend it. In a perfect, beautiful, laser-guided plot-point, 15 minutes into the movie Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney declares, “I’m not going to die here.” Filmmakers choose to avoid this astronaut’s personal life, and instead focus their terrestrial b-plot on the NASA scientists determined to get him home, but also avoid what seems like an inevitable P.R. disaster. Meanwhile, Watney’s Castaway on Mars adventure is tense and watchable; surviving with potatoes, duct-tape, and disco music. (There’s a surprising amount of levity in these scenes…) While it’s true you never think he’s going to die, it’s fascinating watching him stay calm as he leaps the next hurdle by the skin of his teeth. I’m happy for Sir Ridley, who’s made a couple of duds lately. (The Counselor, etc.) At 78, he’s still a maestro of science fiction, attempting projects most of his contemporaries would never touch, and occasionally succeeding far more visibly than his prodigy. (think Interstellar.) Nominations are forthcoming.
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