October 3rd, 2016

I like Mark Strong.   I think he plays bad guys really well and effectively.   He plays smart and cunning people.  He was good in Stardust.   Also with The Imitation Game.    Then Netflix is showing Approaching the Unknown.   A lousy title (initially anyway) because this looked like a poor man’s The Martian.    Strong plays the astronaut who invents a way to make water from sand and makes the logical leap that he wants to go to Mars.   So on he goes with a spaceship and heads towards Mars.   Then not much happens.  Days of routine.   Something unusual happens as is inevitable and the story changes.   All in all slow.  And the ending is confusing and takes a different path.   Suffice it to say there is a metaphor that plays out.
A word has to be said about production value and CGI.   Seeing this film in comparison to The Martian or Interstellar gives you an appreciation for those films and the quality they put on film.  The realism.   The visuals.   I couldn’t help but think the production company should have borrowed the leftovers from The Martian; case in point was the space suit.   But everything.   Space ship.   Stars.  Take off just feel like a school project or idea as opposed to a professional production with a massive budget.
I like Mark Strong.  I just wish he had Ridley Scott and that production value to make for a stronger effort.