Matthew Percefull
Andy Weir has quickly cemented himself as a modern Sci-fi genius. His grounded approach to the genre has been refreshing on the page and continues to impress on the screen. His third novel, Project Hail Mary, has been adapted for the big screen and is currently impressing critics and audiences alike. Weir’s technical brand of ‘hard’ science fiction is proving perfect for cinema spectacle. What better time to revisit the first attempt— Ridley Scott’s The Martian from 2015.
Weir’s now iconic first novel, The Martian, came from very humble beginnings. After striking out with publishers, Weir originally self-published The Martian as a free online serial. The story was so beloved that he was heavily encouraged to self-publish the book. Weir’s The Martian got such good word of mouth that the same publishing houses who ignored him came crawling right back. The book only skyrocketed from there, cementing Weir as an author to watch and inspiring Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure.
I’m a big fan of Weir’s novels, and I was nervous when I first caught wind of The Martian’s film adaptation. Even as a huge Ridley Scott fan, I was wary to give it a chance due to how many times I had been disappointed by film adaptations in the past. I still saw the film in theaters and was glad I did. To this day, it’s one of the most memorable theatrical experiences I’ve had. As far as 21st-century science fiction films go, The Martian is up there with the likes of Interstellar for me.
“The book is always better” is a common saying. While it holds a lot of truth, I also take issue with it. The best film adaptations are not trying to compete with their source materials. To be a truly successful adaptation, the film must be in conversation with the book. The Martian is the textbook example of how to pull that off. A lot of films can get so caught up in trying to replicate the book that they forget to be films. They forget that it’s a visual medium. Others go to the opposite extreme, adding unnecessary set pieces and flashiness to make the story more cinematic. The Martian knew how to meet the story where it was and go from there.
As fun and readable as The Martian is, it isn’t the easiest story to adapt. The book is largely told through a series of journal entries. Despite being a space-set adventure, the plot of The Martian is very isolated. Large chunks of the novel are spent with Mark Watney and his inner dialogue. This type of writing is great in the book, but it can make the translation to the screen a bit tricky. To me, a good adaptation and an accurate adaptation are two different things. They certainly can overlap, but the latter does not validate the former. There are plenty of book adaptations that are page-for-page accurate but just fall flat as films. Film adaptations can fall into traps like overuse of narration or lack of surprises. Scott and crew are able to avoid these while still keeping the spirit of Weir’s novel alive.
The Martian’s plot is brilliantly simple. Mark Watney, a career botanist, is left behind on Mars after a routine mission gone wrong. He must survive for as long as he can while his colleagues attempt to retrieve him. Unlike the novel, the film gives much more time focusing on Nasa and the retrieval mission. Don’t get me wrong, Watney still dominates most of the screen time, but I just appreciated spending time with the other characters in this version. A stellar supporting cast, including Jessica Chastain, Donald Glover, Kristen Wiig, and Michael Pena, makes the screen versions of these characters a bit more memorable.
The supporting cast can be perfect; it won’t matter if you don’t get Watney right. Mark Watney needs to be a blank slate, someone the audience can see themselves in, but they can’t be emotionally distant like your typical smoldering “leading man”. You need someone who is able to ride the line between capable and empathetic. I can’t think of many actors who are better at that than Matt Damon. Damon and our relationship with him are perfect for this role. He displays the sad boyishness of Will Hunting but with a hard exterior and resilience that Jason Bourne might embody. He gets to showcase his wide range in a single role. The Martian will go down as one of Damon’s most memorable performances.
One smart adaptation choice was the addition of the video diaries as a replacement for the journal entries. It’s a small change that goes a long way to make the story more cinematic. Damon carries these segments with buckets full of charm, and they’re a great way to portray information without a cheesy, overdone voice-over. Watney talking himself through the situation is one of the best parts of the written story; I’m glad the film managed to include it in some way. It allows Damon to capture the interiority of book Watney without it feeling like an exposition dump.
Ridley Scott is never afraid to try something. Whether you like his big swings or not, you have to respect his willingness to push the medium and his own skillset. The Martian is far from Scott’s first foray into science fiction, but The Martian isn’t your typical sci-fi joint. There are no homicidal aliens, futuristic tech or space battles. The Martian is pretty firmly grounded in reality. How do you remain accessible to the mainstream while also accurately depicting the science involved? One wrong step and you can accidentally drown yourself in jargon. Weir (and Scott) cleverly step around this issue by making the audience feel smart enough to keep up. The film had a slight advantage over the book when it comes to the science. Unlike Weir, Scott was able to work with NASA throughout the production of the film.
Scott and his crew were clearly big fans of Weir’s book. There’s so much care put into every aspect of the craft. This film looks, sounds, and feels like what you read on the page. I normally wouldn’t recommend this, but I think that reading and watching The Martian is the most fulfilling way to experience this story. It doesn’t matter which order you do it in; you’ll appreciate each version after doing so. They don’t force-feed the audience or overexplain anything; they give you enough information to be along for the ride and keep it at that. In fact, these information exchanges are some of the most riveting scenes in the film. Donald Glover’s standout scene is just him explaining space travel, but it plays like an action sequence because the film has kept you so invested in the mission. This entire film is exhilarating, even though most of its runtime is spent in conversation.
An important (and sometimes divisive) element of Weir’s books is his sense of humor. Mark Watney is a genius botanist, but he’s also a huge dork who would probably laugh at your average internet joke. This characterization is key to keeping the tone that Weir is so good at. Without the nuggets of levity, this story is actually pretty depressing. Luckily, Scott and co understood this. The film version of Watney is just as quick to joke. The quips aren’t word-for-word, but the new lines feel right in line with the novel’s characterization. The tone of the film may even lean a bit more toward the comedy, and that’s not a bad thing. When you have naturally funny actors like Pena and Wiig, you have to let them run wild sometimes.
Weir’s (very popular) third book, Project Hail Mary, is lighting up screens worldwide with its lighthearted spectacle. This film feels in congruence with The Martian, and it has more to do with them sharing an author. I believe that Scott has helped set the visual palette for Weir’s world in the same way auteurs like De Palma and Kubrick did for Stephen King early on. After the success of Project Hail Mary, directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller have already expressed interest in taking a shot at Weir’s second novel, Artemis. It’s safe to say that Weir and his space adventures are here to stay on the big screen. If filmmakers continue the detail-oriented and enthusiastic approach to their work, it could influence the future of the whole genre.
