Thanks in no small part to that well-rounded, engaging narrative, The Martian marks a major return to form for Ridley Scott. Even his weakest projects still looked stunning (and this is no different - the Mars Rover would weep if it could see these expansive vistas), but for the past decade or so he's struggled to provide anything coherent, meaningful and, ultimately, interesting. Drew Goaddard, working from Andy Weir's beloved self-published novel, helps him correct that with a script that explores the weight of species advancement without ever stepping too far from the essential sense of adventure and (as if I don't bring it up enough in this review) captures the light-hearted response to extreme pressure perfectly. The existentialism isn't the prime focus - that's the insurmountable odds - but it's well-handled for what is essentially a popcorn flick (a highbrow one when compared to this year's blockbusters, but still). Scott handles the script brilliantly, delighting in crafting big set-pieces in totally unexpected ways. The Martian isn't quite the genre-redefinement of Alien or Blade Runner, but it's certainly one of his better films. And, with the focus so much on balancing tension and humour, he's offering a nice antidote to the all-pervasive sombre tone that now defines sci-fi (something he's certainly helped influence with his past work), so the film is in its own way breaking new (ish) ground. All elements aim to build this exciting mix, but by far the most remarkable, and totally unexpected, is the music; it's half operatic symphony, half 70s anthems. No, seriously - in a cheese version of Guardians Of The Galaxy's Vol. 1, Mark's stuck on Mars with only the mission commander's disco mix for audio company, and it's as glorious as it sounds. There's some hilarious contrast to the mixing here and it leads to one of the few times in cinema where a montage isn't just done for the sake of rushing character development. That deftness where others often fail is a little odd, because if there's one area where The Martian stumbles, it's in presenting the passage of time. The film covers a period of about three years, yet can't quite get that across, with leaps of months in one go which, while signposted by timestamps, feel very sudden. Consequently, several subplots and sequences (mainly those in space/on Earth) are a little undernourished, or at least come across as lacking key connective scenes. That really doesn't matter outside of side-lining a couple of characters though, because where the film is fully fleshed out is the Martian himself. Matt Damon's given ample time to be Robinson Crusoe, coming across not as a detached scientist all about the greater good, but a real human in a totally unreal situation, in the process ensuring Mark Watney will be a name we'll remember for years to come. This is down to many factors - his methodical approach to disaster, the aching portrait of desperation, the constant acceptance of fate - but by far the biggest is, yes, the humour. The Martian is a down-to-Earth sci-fi that's funny with a purpose and understands character as much as it does building tension. Ridley Scott's not made his third sci-fi masterpiece, but boy, has he come close. The Martian is in UK cinemas on 30th September and US cinemas on 2nd October.
