The Martian Was Sci-Fi Perfection

      The Golden Globes died for me this year.  Science fiction director extraordinaire Ridley Scott's adapation of Andy Weir's critically acclaimed novel The Martian won Best Comedy.  BEST COMEDY!!! Are you kidding me??  Now, I never read the book...but any idiot with half a brain could tell you just from reading the back cover that it is decidedly NOT a comedy.  What it most certainly IS is a fabulously acted SCI-FI film with gorgeous environments, accurate science, and stunning visuals.
      Matt Damon plays protagonist Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer working on Mars as part of the Ares III mission to the red planet.  After a suprisingly violent sandstorm forces the crew to make an immediate departure from the planet's surface, Mark is struck by debris and believed dead.  The crew retreats to the Hermes orbital station and begins their return voyage to Earth.  Mark wakes up after the storm subsides and makes his way back to the HAB where the astronauts had been living on the surface.  Faced with immeasurable odds, Mark must overcome each obstacle one at a time if he ever hopes to survive long enough to make it home alive.
      Damon's portrayal of Watney is superb.  It's always dangerous when you put such a recognizable and iconic actor in such a role because it can be hard to immerse yourself in the film.  It's so important to be able to sympathize with the plight of the survivor in films such as this and the added variable of survival in space makes it all the more harrowing.  As such, prominant actors can often be more of a distraction than an enhancement and make it harder for the viewer to put themselves in the protaganists shoes.  This is not the case in The Martian.  Damon is superb.  Supporting actors were also on their game, most notably Jeff Daniels as the Director of NASA and Jessica Chastain as Ares III mission commander Melissa Lewis.
      While the film certainly utilizes a heavy amount of comedic relief, mostly from Watney as he talks to his video log, it is meant to help keep Mark and the viewer sane as the notion of years alone on the red planet begins to sink in.  It's important to make light of any dire situation to avoid panic and ultimately failure.  The fact that this sarcastic, comedic relief was misconstrued as outright comedy by the motion picture elite is downright embarrassing.  I'll leave it at that.
      The films visuals are brilliant and showcase the beauty of the Martian surface.  Large rock formations, sweeping dunes, and a glowing orange sky serve as the backdrop to Mark's survival activities.  They are a constant reminder of the perils and beauty of space.  While the film certainly had its pitfalls, overall I can't speak highly enough about the acting, script, and visuals.  When combined, they do exactly what science fiction is supposed to do: inspire, intrigue, and continually tempt humanity to open the Pandora's Box that is deep space travel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Failed to Live Up to the Hype

Marvels latest film Guardians of the Galaxy was a jumbled overload of characters which when combined with a basic plotline left me wanting more.  After all the hype surrounding this film, I was anxious to finally see it.  Of the countless characters, worlds, gods, and ships that get tossed around my favorite character inronically ended up being the one I was most skeptical about from the first time I saw the trailer, the raccoon.  But we’ll get to that.  The film centers on Peter Quill, AKA Star Lord who is abducted in 1988 by a group of space pirates.  Years later we find Quill exploring an alien world and recovering a mysterious orb which he intends to sell.  The orb is sought after by the evil Ronan, a member of the Kree who is working with a galactic super being named Thanos in an attempt to destroy planets.  After Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora is sent to intercept Quill, the two end up colliding with a pair of bounty hunters, the genetically modified raccoon Rocket and his towering humanoid tree Groot.  The whole group is promptly arrested and imprisoned where after meeting the final member of their  band of misfit toys, they decide to work together in an attempt to sell the orb and take down Ronan in the process.  The film had plenty of laugh out loud moments as the viewer sympathizes with the awkward fish out of water character of Star Lord who is portrayed by Parks and Recreations Chris Pratt.  However, the movie couldn’t quite decide which demographic it wanted to cater to which was a detrement to the acting and story.  The visual effects were out of this world, not to be cliché and there was plently to keep your eyes busy between epic space battles, daring escapes, countless large explosions and plenty of different colored aliens.  Still, despite its successes I was looking for more from a film many hailed as the best Marvel movie yet.  As this was clearly just the start of a new franchise which will see this awkward gang going on more adventures, I’ll just have to wait and see if its follow up trumps this new addition to the Marvel family.