Film Review - The Martian

 

Sole Man

Film: The Martian

Cast: Matt Damon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Duration: 2 hrs 21 mins
Rating: * * * * 

At 77, director Ridley Scott’s fascination with space and planets continues. He made Alien in 1979 and in circa 2015 it is The Martian. Much like George Miller earlier this year with Mad Max: Fury Road, it is impressive to see Scott so much in command of his craft, especially when back home, the career span of a director is barely ten or fifteen years. 

Based on the book by Andy Weir the story has a predictable trajectory of a man lost on another planet and then the subsequent efforts to bring him back. But it is all done in an entertaining manner and Scott keeps you engaged throughout the 140 odd minutes.

Just as they are about to leave the red planet, the crew of the NASA mission are hit by a severe storm. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets injured and in the following chaos he is presumed dead as the rest of the crew take off fearing the worst. 

But surprise surprise, Mark wakes up all alone as the solitary living creature on the planet and very little resources at his disposal. But not one to give up easily, he comes up with ingenious methods for survival including growing potatoes.

Meanwhile back on earth, NASA realizes that he is alive and sort of kicking but time is not on their side as it could take a while for essentials to reach him and years before a rescue mission can get there. The odds are against Mark but given the nature of the film you know that he will see it through not before he hits some major roadblocks. 

By and large the pace is consistently maintained – the focus never stays too long on Mars where he has to fight for survival and keep his sanity intact or on earth where NASA headed by their chief (Jeff Daniels) and other scientists (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean) are trying their best to rescue him. The scene keeps cutting between these two places in the right measure. 

Even though Mark is stranded with no help in sight, there is an element of humor and positivity that runs through him – he keeps recording video logs of his day to day activities, hates disco music but since there isn’t much to choose from, he ends up listening to it.   

When things start looking good, David Bowie’s Starman makes an appearance on the soundtrack (maybe they deliberately left out Bowie’s Life on Mars that would have been too literal).

It’s hard not to think of Interstellar or Gravity, two remarkable contemporary films set in space, but the similarities end there.  This doesn’t have the complexity of the former or the intensity of the latter.

They have cast some terrific actors though, many of them, like Jessica Chastain don’t have a great deal of screen time but are effective all the same. Matt Damon is eminently likable in the lead role and contributes immensely in making The Martian worth a trip to the theatres. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 4th Oct. 2015
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Film Review - The Monuments Men

Art For Art's Sake

Film: The Monuments Men

Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray

Directed by: George Clooney

Duration: 2 hrs

Rating: * * *

The Monuments Men directed by George Clooney is based on a true story and make no mistake; it is a great story but doesn’t quite translate into film that is in the same league.  Is the world’s greatest art worth risking one’s life to save it? During the World War II when the Nazis were on a rampage, a bunch of good men thought it was well worth it.

The veracity of the details may be disputed, but considering this is a film, (there is also an excellent documentary made in 2006, The Rape of Europa) you are willing to overlook the authenticity of the proceedings. After all, these men did exist and helped save a lot of treasured art.

The Train (1964) starring Burt Lancaster had a similar story where the Resistance had to stop and salvage a train carrying precious art to Germany. While that film was an absolute edge of the seat thriller, the flaw with Monuments Men lies with the script which has a bit of action, buddy bonding and the occasional bout of thrill without really digging deep in to any of them.

‘Why the three stars then?’ you might ask. Well, consider the story –as WWII was coming to end, the Nazis were looting or destroying all sorts of precious art and sculptures. Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Rembrandt, you name it they were all stolen and Hitler had a grand design of making a Fuehrer museum.  

Enter the art historians and curators, led by the American Lt. Frank Stokes (Clooney) who gets on the scene of action in Europe with his men that has an excellent cast of John Goodman, Billy Murray, Matt Damon and Bob Balaban. Jean Dujardin plays a Frenchman who helps them in their endeavors. Together they help retrieve thousands of prized artworks, which were meant to be purged by the Nazis. Cate Blanchett also plays an important role as the curator of a museum who supports the Resistance and keeps a close eye on the movement of the paintings.

While lots of scenes are sugary, the film succeeds in making the point about how important our art and history is. As Clooney says in the film, if a generation is wiped out, a new generation will come up but if our past culture is destroyed, there is no bringing it back.   

The screenplay should have been more terse, most of the time it appears to be skimming the surface as far as the individual stories are concerned. Nevertheless, it serves as a great lesson in history and serves ample food for thought. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 23rd Feb 2014
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Film Review - Elysium

 

Present Day Sci-Fi Tale

Film: Elysium

Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Duration: 1 hr 49 mins

Rating: * * * 1 / 2

Director Neill Blomkamp made a super debut with District 9 which surely ranks in the list of greatest science fiction films of all time. Much like that film, while Elysium appears to be more ‘sci-fi’ on the outside, it also raises questions about the present day society and tackles political themes as well.

The story is set the future but as Blomkamp said in an interview, “This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

Set in 2154 where the earth is ravaged and the rich people have moved to a space habitat called Elysium, which is swanky, spotlessly clean and disease free. The earth meanwhile is exactly the opposite and those who don’t have the wealthy resources to go to Elysium are stuck here.

Jodie Foster plays a ruthless Secretary of Defense who is planning a coup to over throw the president  on Elysium. Max (Matt Damon) works for at a factory and gets exposed to radiation, A robot very matter of factly tells him that he will die in five days.

But Max knows there is a way out – he can be treated on Elysium and hence takes help from a non official source. A mercenary (Sharlto Copley) has the mission to finish off Max who manages to ‘download’ some vital information.

Visually, Elysium looks stunning, the science fiction elements and the futuristic designs are innovative.While there is plenty of action, towards the end the film gravitates towards being a Hollywood actioner but the foundation laid earlier, gives it an edge. It is that ‘extra’ which Elysium has to offer in terms of socio-political issues that it raises which makes it a cut about the rest.

Jodie Foster is convincing as the calm and power hungry lady, you wouldn’t want to be near such a character. Matt Damon has done plenty of action films and as always, he is on the money. Sharlto Copley is a very good actor who has not been seen much after District 9, although we’ll see him soon the remake of Oldboy.

So here’s another film that is eminently worth your time and money.

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