Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' review, starring Matt Damon

Most only dream they’ll go to Mars. The allure of the red planet, to be given the possibility to explore its dissonant exterior, sparks inspiration and innovation in bright young minds everywhere. It lets them rise to their fullest potential, see how they can change the world of tomorrow and persevere as only few have before. All this motivation can be found within astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) as well. Instead of making his way onto the planet in Ridley Scott’s latest, The Martian, though, he desperately wants to get off.

Stranded after presumed dead by his Ares III team — including Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Rick Martinez (Michael Peña), Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie) and Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) — Mark must learn to survive on a planet where life cannot be supported. Assuming another mission isn’t set to mantle for at least another three years, Mark needs to sustain his resources through his artificial habitat, using his expertise as a botanist to produce fertile agriculture where none ever existed before. To keep his morale in check, he annually completes a series of video logs recounting his experiences on the intergalactic wasteland he must temporarily call home. As he acquaints around his newfound conditions, he manages to stabilize himself. Over time, his efforts grow fruitful — or, should one say, vegetable, as he becomes the first person to colonize Mars with edible crops and harvest.

Meanwhile on Earth, NASA engineer Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) surveys the latest satellite photos from Mars only to be shocked to discover Watney’s survival, immediately causing NASA to set out to find some means of communication. Once Watney relocates a 1997 Pathfinder probe, conversations between the two commence through code. In the process to making sure he’s kept alive, NASA administrator Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) works to salvage a probe to Mark, replenishing him until their next mission. However, he refuses to inform the rest of Ares III on their discovery, for fear that it’ll distract from their return home mission. As time persists, though, it’s evident they’re possibly Mark’s only hope for survival.

Chiewetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean and Donald Glover also round out the cast. But as you’d expect, it’s entirely Damon’s film. He carries it all with an easy, casual appeal found throughout his best performances. He brings a natural layman approach to the scientific preciseness required to explain everything, without having it ever feel dumbed down or totally incomprehensible. His everyman charisma and wit captures a genuine morality — a sense of reliability to something nobody could have ever experienced. He captures the weight of Mark’s reality without letting it overtake his levity. Even on Mars, Damon knows well how to keep things down-to-earth.

Indeed, The Martian, an adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, is a lot like Cast Away on Mars — with a little Moon on the side, Robinson Crusoe on Mars thrown in the mix and perhaps some Red Planet for good measure. Not to mention Interstellar, as casting comparisons with Damon and Chastain seem almost impossible to ignore. It’s some of this, a little bit of that, but it’s far from the sum of its parts. Rather, it’s an entirely engrossing, endearingly engaging and surprisingly relatable piece of work — something not said for Scott’s films in some while. It succeeds largely on the strength of its principles, ringing true with heart, humility and a triumphant sense of goodwill towards others. All of which is coaxed with a nicely reflexive sense of humor to bring it home.

Thankfully, The Martian also embraces its geekiness whenever it sees fit. It’s never afraid to nerd out on the science and its precise details, and Mark knows how to make it easy and enjoyable to follow. There’s always a sense of rational thinking to Mark’s actions. He makes it clear what he needs to be done, what he’ll need to accomplish and how he’ll think to survive. Through it all, Damon’s pleasant everyman appeal carries it through — proving his humanity never left orbit, especially as they find enjoyable and creative ways to work the character's dirty mouth into the PG-13 rating.

It’s approachable, accessible in ways these kinds of sci-fi blockbusters haven’t typically been in ages, and it doesn’t check its brain out by doing so either. It’s dependably smart, yet it constantly comes up with clever, engaging ways to work through all the scientific mumbo-jumbo spouted throughout. There’s a meticulous order to how everything comes into place for Mark, chronicling everything with an acute sense of pacing. It can drag at times, but hardly as much as you’d think.

We’re made to feel through him as though we’ve grown accustomed to Mars. We come to adjust feeding theologically on what can, and should, be gleamed from such wide-scale isolation. It wears the strength and endurance of its investing premise well — continuously coming up with interesting, thoughtful ways to make it all sound as it rises the stakes at an elevated leisure. And its logistics don’t become shortsighted until the end. By then, though, the validation to go outside the realms of possibility feels earned. Because the foundation was set for us to care about more than just the factional probabilities, it’s a little entitled to go out there at that point.

As to be expected, Mars exemplifies itself far beyond anything found on Earth. There’s a rich warmness in its presentation, how it comes alive in spite of its vast emptiness. It illuminates at every moment, proving — once again — how Scott’s talents seem best utilized within this genre. He and screenwriter Drew Goddard understand beautifully what makes Weir’s story so compelling. Even though they never explore the full ideological pathos found in planet-wise solace, they each bring a great deal of intelligence, depth and passion to their work. Through The Martian, they champion the capabilities found in science and man. They inspire and invigorate, celebrate the greatness found within persistence. They make people want to challenge themselves, to go out and achieve greatness — to fight the odds, reach for the stars and to fly around the world, to Mars and back again. Even when death is emanate, it celebrates living to the fullest. And that’s what makes it soar.