The Red Planet is not just a fellow planet for Earth in the
Solar System.
More than any other planet, even as Venus is famously
associated with love, the sandy and scarlet Mars continues to enjoy a special
place in the realm of imagination of us Earthlings. We have entertained
fantasies of extraterrestrial life residing in it, which is why we have had
stories by H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury. We have often marveled at its exotic
stature as an alternative setting to pulpy fiction, which is why comic book
geniuses Edgar Rice Burroughs and Alan Moore have portrayed it in all its
glory. And we have often nursed starry-eyed dreams t set up camp in that
strange place, which is why we love ‘Total Recall’.
In the midst of all the gabby narrative in Ridley Scott’s ‘The
Martian’, we have then fleetingly captured but mesmerizing moments of
reflection. The eponymous space survivor explores the world around him with an
understanding yet awed perspective, viewing it as not only benign but also
exotic and uncharted, like an explorer discovering a new continent. It is in
moments like these that Scott’s film reaches unprecedented emotional depths,
gushing with unabashedly poignant wonder.
The rest of the time, however, is ruled by smarts and that is
what makes the difference. ‘The Martian’ is a swashbuckling romp, hurtling from
the barren Mars to the chaotic Earth in rugged yet rhythmic poetry. This is
Scott’s belated terrific return to form, delivering mainstream entertainment confidently
yet driven by that most elusive thing for today’s blockbuster cinema-
intelligence.
We begin with the most predictable of all setups. In a twist
on the opening of ‘E.T’, we see a botanist stranded on an alien world, after
his fellow space-truckers all head away home. The problem, inevitably, is this
world is not just millions of miles away- it is also totally desolate. This means that there are no aliens to help this outsider
contact his home. So, yeah, all is doomed for Mark Whatney, as he admits in his
video log in his sole camp in the Martian outposts. And yet, less than a reel
later, he is fired by the resolve, not just to survive but also thrive.
From then on begins a whip-cracking Robinson Crusoe-like template for Scott
to follow but what really sets it apart from being a typical survival story,
like say ‘Cast Away’, is how the narrative shuttles from Mars to Earth to
capture all the frenetic chaos to rescue this space-traveler from a planet
which mere mortals still don’t fully understand. The stage is set for a charged
conflict of interests- amidst the NASA top brass and their quirky subordinates
together scrambling for some way out of this tangled situation, even as they
are increasingly awed by Whatney’s determined efforts to make this strange
planet habitable.
So, we have two finely dusted sides to this narrative wedge- one,
focusing on all the probable delays, accidents and misfires on Earth to get
supplies to Whatney and the other depicting, with hilarious snap, Whatney’s
foolhardy adventures and his unabashed will in setting up camp till help
arrives. ‘Mars is going to fear my botany skills’, he announces with typical,
sardonic pomp and off he goes, growing crops out of leftover potatoes, laying
down manure made out of the stored wastes of fellow astronauts and even more,
indulging all his whims and fancies in a world that just seems to bend to his
order. What unites these two twin-narrative threads is the endless barrage of
jargon and detail flowing between the characters in their wordplay and actions.
As Whatney would put it, Scott often ‘sciences the shit’ out of the pulpy
premise and backs up both the tension and adventure with brains, rather than
bombast.
But while brainy science often aids these proceedings, what ‘The
Martian’ also has in spades is spontaneous wit and warmth in its plot
movements. Drew Goddard superbly adapts Andy Weir’s sardonically comic
adventure novel, often nailing the breakneck pace and roaring, absurdist humor
with smack-down dialogue and wisecrack characters all around. There is a touch
of delusional obsession in Whatney’s self-willed forays in Mars, the way he
muses that he might have colonized the planet for himself, the way he chafes at
the conditions hurled at him across space and more. There is a tender sincerity
in this man too, the way he insists that his old team is not to be blamed for
his situation and the way he chooses to distinguish himself as heroic, even in
the biggest of perils.
None of it, however, becomes mawkish thanks to how Scott and
Goddard handle the other human aspect of this tale. The team on the ground-
consisting of an excellent Jeff Daniels as a reluctant, protocol-bound NASA director,
a brazen Chiwetel Ejiofor as his rival- a scientist hell-bent on making contact
with Whatney and the various quirky team members- are people who find
themselves stumbling upon ingenious, improvised solutions that often turn out
to be helpful. And then, there is also Whatney's erstwhite team, played by a stellar cast including Jessica Chastain and Michael Pena, who also stick loyally to their stranded comrade, especially in the excellent cliffhanger climax.
In that sense, ‘The Martian’ defies nerdy intelligence, prizing
gritty, grungy innovation in face of order and formality, its real heroes the
unsung geniuses and wizards who often stay in the backdrop and dole out
buzz-kill solutions for unexpected problems. There is a real, crackling
camaraderie between these people too and it itself comes handy in saving the
day eventually.
Scott has always been known for a heavy-handed directorial
hand- his films reveling in the glory of their visual scale while sticking to
coherent, intelligent storytelling. But ‘The Martian’ stands out as a triumph
for him- simply because how light and bouncy it feels. There is no weighty
subtext here- this is a survival thriller, pure and simple and driven by
clarity and purpose. This is a film that makes its fairytale story compellingly
thrilling, engrossing and even believable to a large extent. This might not
have the dark intensity of his ‘Alien’ or the over-reaching ambition of ‘Prometheus’
but like the boisterous and emotionally rousing ‘Thelma And Louise’, this is an
energetic romp that delights with smarts rather than just spectacle.
And it is further aided by a stellar man at the crux of
things. Matt Damon, playing Whatney, gives further evidence as to his
already-solid acting chops and then some. This is the kind of character that he
is born to play- a winning mix of nerdy prudishness and a fiery cynicism that
brings a delicious edge to his clean-cut character. We revel in his bravado, in
the way he scathingly dismisses disco tunes accompanying him on his forays, the
way he christens him as a pioneering explorer in this land, the way he grows a
beard and calls himself a pirate and- and most crucially- when he breaks down,
seconds before on his final homeward bound. This is after all a Martian that we
really want to bring back on good old Earth.
My Rating- 5 Stars.
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