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sophia_sol) wrote2015-10-24 11:15 am
sophia_sol) wrote2015-10-24 11:15 am
Entry tags:
The Martian
Last night I went to see The Martian and I was very favourably impressed! I had really liked the book when I read it ages ago, and it felt to me like the movie was everything I had liked about the book (competence porn and humour and nerdy science and space!) PLUS deeper characterisation, so pretty much I loved it.
And I think this is a story that really benefits from being told in a visual medium, for two reasons:
One, because all the vast sweeping landscapes of Mars that you see really drive home how alone Watney is in a desolate world. I really appreciated how this movie made Mars a main character.
And two, because it allows you to see all the emotions Watney's experiencing, even when he's not willing/able to admit these things out loud/on paper. I was very impressed with the acting skill of the dude who played Watney - it's a difficult role, I think, doing all that acting without there really ever being another human to act against. It's just him and his props and the green screen. And he did a great job of making Watney feel real and human.
Moving on, I liked that the movie did a good job of picking up on the theme from the book of international cooperation. What a feel-good! It's so nice to see a movie where the point is that if we all, despite our differences, can work together, we can accomplish good things. It's really rare. After the movie my dad commented that he was surprised that zero people had died, since in most stories of this nature there would be at least one death to heighten narrative tension. But having anyone die would have undermined the theme!
Troy Barnes playing a scientist was probably my favourite secondary character. He was so endearing. But I liked that most of the secondary characters in the movie felt a lot more like people than they did in the book. Though the Ares team felt the least well-rounded.
Speaking of the Ares team, it seems to me that Beck was the LEAST strongly-characterized of the bunch, which means that it rather amuses me that apparently Watney/Beck is the ship of choice in the fandom? I mean, if you are the sort of person whose favourite way of engaging with media is to ship two dudes together, I can see why Watney/Beck would be the pairing chosen, because there is REMARKABLY little slashability in this movie and the two of them got at least one one or two crumbs. At any rate I am glad there are also people shipping Watney/Beck/Johanssen, because I don't like the idea of breaking Beck and Johanssen up even if they did get the most tired and cliche of heterosexual happy-family endings together. But in general this is not a movie that inspires me towards shipping at all. Except for PLATONIC TEAM of course because I am always my most predictable self.
When the credits music started at the end I knew from the first notes what song it was and I just burst out laughing because what a perfect choice! I really enjoyed that. I liked the disco music throughout, actually - the upbeat music in contrast to the difficult circumstances - and I appreciated the efforts made to choose disco songs that were thematically relevant, even. Dad was less of a fan since he doesn't like disco. His loss.
And I think this is a story that really benefits from being told in a visual medium, for two reasons:
One, because all the vast sweeping landscapes of Mars that you see really drive home how alone Watney is in a desolate world. I really appreciated how this movie made Mars a main character.
And two, because it allows you to see all the emotions Watney's experiencing, even when he's not willing/able to admit these things out loud/on paper. I was very impressed with the acting skill of the dude who played Watney - it's a difficult role, I think, doing all that acting without there really ever being another human to act against. It's just him and his props and the green screen. And he did a great job of making Watney feel real and human.
Moving on, I liked that the movie did a good job of picking up on the theme from the book of international cooperation. What a feel-good! It's so nice to see a movie where the point is that if we all, despite our differences, can work together, we can accomplish good things. It's really rare. After the movie my dad commented that he was surprised that zero people had died, since in most stories of this nature there would be at least one death to heighten narrative tension. But having anyone die would have undermined the theme!
Troy Barnes playing a scientist was probably my favourite secondary character. He was so endearing. But I liked that most of the secondary characters in the movie felt a lot more like people than they did in the book. Though the Ares team felt the least well-rounded.
Speaking of the Ares team, it seems to me that Beck was the LEAST strongly-characterized of the bunch, which means that it rather amuses me that apparently Watney/Beck is the ship of choice in the fandom? I mean, if you are the sort of person whose favourite way of engaging with media is to ship two dudes together, I can see why Watney/Beck would be the pairing chosen, because there is REMARKABLY little slashability in this movie and the two of them got at least one one or two crumbs. At any rate I am glad there are also people shipping Watney/Beck/Johanssen, because I don't like the idea of breaking Beck and Johanssen up even if they did get the most tired and cliche of heterosexual happy-family endings together. But in general this is not a movie that inspires me towards shipping at all. Except for PLATONIC TEAM of course because I am always my most predictable self.
When the credits music started at the end I knew from the first notes what song it was and I just burst out laughing because what a perfect choice! I really enjoyed that. I liked the disco music throughout, actually - the upbeat music in contrast to the difficult circumstances - and I appreciated the efforts made to choose disco songs that were thematically relevant, even. Dad was less of a fan since he doesn't like disco. His loss.