“In your face, Neil Armstrong”
The Martian is now less than two months away, and they’ve released an official trailer, which you can check out below:
They have also released a few clips (here, and here) that are used to establish the crew. In all honesty I was sold from the halway point of the first teaser, which is odd to say given Ridley Scott’s uneven track record as of late. The director releases a new film every two or three years and it’s mostly a coin-toss whether it’s any good or not. But still, I can’t help but hold out hope for the man that made Alien.
Here’s the official synopsis:
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.
While there will definitely be more characters and dialogue, this does remind me of one of 2013’s best films All Is Lost, which also tells of a character having to use his skills and ingenuity to “science the shit out of this”. That film managed to make a man taking care of a hole in his boat interesting for over two hours, so maybe this can too. What surprised me about this trailer, and the recent clips, was how many jokes there were. It probably shouldn’t, since the script comes from Drew Goddard, the director and co-writer of The Cabin In The Woods.
Not all of the humour lands for me, and feels pretty forced in the interview clips I linked at the beginning of the article, but I trust that Damon can make it work. It doesn’t hurt that the supporting cast is phenomenal: Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor. I’m not familiar with Aksel Hennie, but in the glimpses we have of him in the videos above he only seems to say “I’m German” in various ways, so I’m not holding out on his character having much depth. Nevertheless, I’m more excited about seeing these guys interact than the action or sci-fi spectacle on display, which is an important thing if they can pull it off.
What do you guys think?