On the surface, The Martian feels like Castaway meets Apollo 13.

And that’s fair to say,but since the trailer premiered I’ve watched it a few times now.

So far, I really liked what I see.

This film will also get compared to (unfairly might I add)  a lot to two other recent space dramas, Gravity and Interstellar.

I do think The Martian has one small trick up it’s sleeve, and that trick is that the characters are far more grounded and likable in this one. That’s not a knock on Gravity or Interstellar. Their characters fit the kind of films they are in. Sandra Bullock’s character in Gravity was complex and contemplative. Matthew McConaughey’s character was warm and hopeful in Interstellar. What makes the cast of The Martian different is that this feels like a group of people you wanna meet and talk to, which allows the disaster like drama to hit harder.

Before the trailer premiered today, Fox released this viral video that gave us a taste of the characters before the events.

This video was promising. Already I was enjoying the rapport between the characters and I was digging Matt Damon’s charm. This was a great way to get introduced to the film, which made watching the trailer even more enjoyable.

To put it simply, I was sold after the line “I’m gonna science the shit out of this.”

I’ve been praising the characters and I feel a lot of that comes from the work of screenwriter Drew Goddard. Goddards is a talent and his writing/directing debut, The Cabin in the Woods, is just excellent. I see a lot of Goddards character work shine in this trailer.

The visuals of the film looks great, and that’s all due to director Ridley Scott, but his last few movies have been….how do I say…not good? Yeah, not good.

Perhaps his slump is finally going to be over, and Goddard gave him a solid script that he can work off his strengths. It would be nice to like a Ridley Scott film again.

 

The Martian comes out in theaters November, 2015.