The Martian

It's been a while since Ridley Scott has made a truly great film, but has his recent direction on The Martian changed all that? Read my full review below to find out!

The Martian follows Mark Watney, an astronaut who has to survive on Mars after being accidentally stranded there by his crew, who believed him to be dead. Let me start by saying, this film has an amazing cast! Ridley Scott has managed to bring some of the best talent around to take part in this film and it really pays off, I mean just read this, the film stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Mackenzie Davis and Donald Glover! The cast is incredible and they all do incredibly in their roles, some of which are relatively small, but they all get their chance to shine. There's a scene which features Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean and Mackenzie Davis together which had me thinking this is the best crossover of The Newsroom/ Game of Thrones/ Halt and Catch Fire that I never knew I wanted. A film is not its cast though, they have to do well and like I said before they all do however, this film mainly falls on one guys shoulders and that's Matt Damon, who has to convince us that he is a scientist/astronaut that is stuck on a different planet. Considering he mainly talks to himself through various video logs, he does this very, very well.

The plot itself is great, yes its a long film, but it's part survival film and part film about the philosophy of the human race coming together to save one man, you can't usually do that in 90 minutes. It's truly emotional at times considering the events themselves aren't based on any truth, I mean the accuracy of the science seems believable, but we have never left someone stranded on Mars. In fact the film is based of the self published novel of the same name by author Andy Weir, now I haven't read the book but from what I have heard, the film is extremely faithful to the source material. The film itself doesn't have one dull moment, you are constantly on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next and particularly in the final act of the film, things get very tense, it's brilliant and like with most space films it's exhilarating.

One of the reasons it's so exhilarating is the fact that it all looks so real. We saw a couple years ago with Gravity that effects these days can make outer space look very realistic. Now The Martian is not a special effects orientated film, the effects are there to enhance our experience, but hell, they might as well have filmed in space or on Mars for all I cared because the film looked stunning. Add a great soundtrack to the mix and The Martian has got it all.

This film is set slightly in the future, everything you see isn't out of the realms of possibility, unlike last years Interstellar (which yes I still love), this film presents itself as being very believable. The science, to my ears, sounded plausible enough and even though very geeky at times it was also accessible to a wide audience without ever needing to 'dumb' itself down.

I didn't really have any problems with the film, there was one moment that I felt could have been trimmed or left out but it didn't effect my enjoyment or love for this film. So yes this is a return to form for Ridley Scott, a form I hope continues when he comes around to making the next Prometheus or Alien: Paradise Lost as its being called now...

At the end of the day I am a sucker for these kinds of films, I love a good sci-fi, so much so that the first feature script I wrote was one. Space is something that has always been able to capture my imagination, I love stories that revolve around it and this one is definitely one of the better ones out there! As you can probably tell, I absolutely loved The Martian and therefore am giving it a rating of 5/5.

Have you seen The Martian yet? If so what did you think? If not then stop being a fool and go watch it on the big screen and then after let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! 

The Bourne Legacy

Yet again I haven't posted in ages, which I am sorry about but I have been very hard at work on a short film that I helped write the screenplay for. The film has been finished and I will be posting it as soon as I can get it on to YouTube, which will hopefully be in January. But don't worry, I have a lot of stuff ready to fill this blog up in December 2012, including a review of the first part of The Hobbit, which should be online in the next couple of days once I have actually seen the film tonight! I also will be doing my review of 2012 and a post on what I am most looking forward to in 2013. But right now I have a review of The Bourne Legacy which came out on DVD and Blu-ray recently. 

As a big fan of the last 3 films in the Bourne franchise, I was slightly worried when they announced a fourth film that wouldn't have Matt Damon in it. I thought the story wrapped up pretty nicely in the first 3 films but I guess Universal wanted to expand the story's universe and make more money.

The latest instalment takes place right after the events of Jason Bourne's story. We see how this affects the world and more importantly our new hero Aaron Cross who is now being hunted down after the people behind Treadstone and Black Briar 'shut the operations down'. Bourne was a man looking to find out who he was whereas Cross is a man addicted to a steroid type drug that turns him into a kind of super soldier who is looking for his next hit. Personally I don't think it has the same ring as the previous films but with Jeremy Renner as Cross, he's still pretty cool. Renner holds the film well and its good to see him as a leading man in a big blockbuster film.

With Renner we also get other great acting talent in the form of Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton. The acting is great but whoever decided to given Norton grey hair should be fired. He looks really odd, almost as if someone put a load of talcon powder in it. If they wanted the character to be old they should have hired an older actor or at least done the make up better!

Bourne was the forefront of a new type of action film and this movie follows the rest in that grounded fighting style. The action is cool and well done but it never seems to have that same feel that Matt Damon had when he was fighting. There are some interesting moments but nothing original like killing someone with a pen or setting a house on fire by ripping out the gas pipes and putting a magazine in the toaster.

Originality is what lets the film down. It's nothing we haven't seen before, nothing new is brought to the plate and most of the action is already seen in the trailer. I was fine with the amount of action but it just didn't feel the same as last time.

The film isn't all bad, far from it. It's more average then anything. There are some terrific visuals near the start when Cross is making his way through a snowy mountain filled terrain and there is also a terrifying scene in which one of Rachel Weisz's co-workers goes on a killing spree. A scene that was definitely the best in the film and was executed perfectly.

The first three Bourne films were something new and exciting but Legacy feels like it's just your run of the mill action thriller. It had it's great moments, however I'm not sure the film was even needed. I personally felt satisfied at the ending of Ultimatum. That being said I am still interested in where they are going to take this franchise next. A Cross and Bourne team up would be pretty cool but unfortunately it doesn't look as if Matt Damon is on board for that. I felt The Bourne Legacy was a good film but nothing special, that is why I am giving it a rating of 3/5.

What did you think of the latest instalment of the Bourne franchise? Would you like to see more of Aaron Cross? Please comment below.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check back soon for more posts!