The Martian (*spoilers*, be warned)

 

Guess my expectations were really high and I didn't understand all of it, having only read half the book so far, but it's a cool movie and there were several things I liked about it. 

First, the things I didn't like/get:

I didn't get how come if they all left because of the storm and the threat of tipping over the... MAV, I think it was called, why was there a MAV sent down for Ares IV four years in advance to the Ares IV team arriving... Wouldn't that totally put the MAV IV in danger of being tipped by any random storm? 

This may be something i didn't see right, but why does the Kapoor character send a lower employee footage of Mark being alive, so she can recognize it and then hysterically phone back the Kapoor man to tell him what she just found and that it's important?

Having watched Gravity, I didn't find it plausible when one of the astronauts just leaves the Hermes and strolls around on the outside un-tethered.

Why, if the commander in the end has the thruster chair, why does she need to be tethered? 

Why did the Hermes have to collect the supplies and not just turn or use the lunar sling acceleration? That part might be explained better in the book, there may be a clear answer.

It didn't portray loneliness very well, because there's always something happening so dramatically. Okay, so Mark Watney was a really fun guy, but even at the beginning of Prometheus, when the ship is sleeping and that freaky android is all by himself, the loneliness is portrayed better. But here even when he's contemplating his singular existence on the whole planet (that we know of), it's like that's the best thing ever.

I thought the romance between the two astronauts, especially the baby in the end is completely stupid. Sex, okay, fine, obviously, but still completely unnecessary. 

If Jessica Chastain wasn't so overwhelmingly beautiful, her role would be entirely dull. seriously, ANYBODY could act like that, any actress. But true, she is super pretty and no matter what she says is plausible, because just keep talking and we'll just keep looking. 

It's true when someone said all that's missing was a Wilson.  

It did feel kind of high horse, as I've read somewhere, that this is such an American, such a NASA pride parade, as if no other agency on the planet has anything to do with space travel. Yes, NASA rocks, but none of the stations in the sky at the moment are American, guys.

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And now things I liked.

I liked the flute soundback - really similar to that of Alien, and it was awesome.

The deserts, man, those endless deserts. I would walk the shit out of those deserts. I have to check where they shot this, because that's certainly my next vacation, right after the sights from Prometheus (Iceland) and half the sights from Exodus... So Ridley Scott is my vacation destination promoter, really. 

My grandma thought this was a documentary :D Bless her. 

I loved it in the end when the trainees of NASA run by him and they all slow down and respect him.

Michael Pena. Even better here than in Ant Man. That guy is beyond awesome. He'll never get any award for his performances, because he's, you know, a Latino, but he totally steals the show.

Phobos sliding by.

THE SOJOURNER!! <3 <3 <3

The Glorfindel reference. Again, I was the only person in the theater laughing out loud. Where are all the nerds gone??