*Matt Damon, takes us on another Mars venture, but never with such solo passion as left-for-dead astronaut Marc Watney, The Martian. This movie preempted President Trump's 2017 mandate for NASA to land a human on Mars by 2033.
Ridley Scott adds another notch to his sci-fi pedigree as director and co-producer, creating a movie of likely space travel in our time. His efforts were awarded with two major Golden Globes: one for Matt and the other for Best Movie - Comedy or Musical (really?...it was much more); yet, Scott deserved the Oscar. The Martian dramatically recounts how botanist Watney was left stranded and wounded on Mars after his fellow astronauts were forced to evacuate at the onset of a windstorm. Of course, movie drama has to interfere and it's improbable that a Mars sandstorm could topple a vessel as massive as the MAV lander. We witness step-by-step how astronaut Marc succeeds through a series of convincing problem-solving situations to feed himself, troubleshoot, and contact Earth. He creates a potato patch using human feces in a hydrogen moisture lab. Then we follow him as he treks across Mars by resting to recharge solar panels and using radioactive jetsam to keep warm. He digs out old Pathfinder to communicate with Earth. An international effort mounts as the Chinese CNSA's Chief Scientist (Eddy Ko) helps resupply the Ares III's return to Mars.
The crew is mostly Caucasian with one Latino, Major Martinez (Michael Pena); although, the cast was multicultural, receiving multiple accolades. Cal Tech's JPL is finally on the map as the prime think tank led by Director Ng (Benedict Wong).
The ending borrows from other films like the 'slingshot' maneuver seen often on Star Trek episodes and Watney's "Iron Man" leap across space. By this time we're believers, though, caught up in the international frenzy. Scott epitomized everything a sci-fi hit should be by injecting comedy, Martian Mcgyverism, techy drama, real-world obstacles, interactive logs/chats, suspenseful space scenes and even a celebrity surprise role by Childish Gambino as Rich Purnell, the JPL astrophysicist who fills a missing link and actually adds to the quality acting. For that reason, I lay it on 10th & Goal.
* 20th Century Fox. The Martian, Matt Damon, sits on a sand dune of Mars. Esquire, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/.
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