Director Ridley Scott
Staring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig
Rated M
Score 4/6

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Its always good to see a science fiction movie directed by Ridley Scott, though I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with the last science fiction movie of his that I saw Prometheus, though mainly to do with haphazard nature of the ending. So in a way The Martian washed away any ill feelings that I might have towards Scott. The only real problem that I have with The Martian was the fact that there is a 3D print of the and The Martian landscape really doesn’t really the 3D cinematic treatment especially if it is going released alongside a regular print of the movie. By my reckoning there has been at least 5 eras of 3D filmmaking and to ensure that this current era doesn’t come to an abrupt end it seems that directors are going to have to learn how to properly craft a decent 3D movie.
We don’t have much time to invest into the character Mark Watney before he is left behind by his crew on Mars presumed dead. Thankfully Damon gave such a likeable performance which saved any potential disappoint with the ultimate climax of the movie. I know that might seem to be a callous thing to say but the likeability of the character of Watney by the audience (or any other character in a similar situation) goes a long way to how a movie is received.
As with most science fiction movies there are people who question the science of science fiction movies and I assume that those same people will eventually come out of the woodwork for The Martian. I will not be doing any of that. But of the science in The Martian I thought that the point about crops and colonization was fairly interesting.