The Martian Review

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2015)

Set on Mars, The Martian is a unique science fiction movie that follows astronaut and botanist Mark Watney, as he tries to survive on the desolate planet. After being injured and separated from his crew, they leave him and return to the space station "Hermes", presuming Watney to be dead. He then wakes up in the desert only to find that his crew has left him behind. Trying to survive off of left over meal rations, Watney has to figure out a way to make water, grow potatoes and communicate with NASA, in order to plan a rescue mission back home to Earth.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about this film is the humor. While there is a lot of suspense in the movie, it is inter- cut with a lot of humor, mostly from Mark Watney and his video journals. I think that the video journals work well to show us how Watney is dealing with being alone and also gives a different way to show him on Mars, without the camera just following him around all the time. It gives the movie a cinematic feel, like it is is based on a true events, rather than a book.
At 141 minutes the movie never drags because the action, suspense and humor are all well paced throughout the film. The cut backs between Mars and Earth also help to keep the story moving forward without feeling the length of the movie. Director Ridley Scott is known for his visually stunning movies and this one is no exception. The sets on Mars and in the space station are spectacular and it feels like the movie was really shot on Mars. There are some great anti-gravity scenes inside the Hermes station that are as good as the scenes from the movie Gravity and made me believe this crew is really in space.
Not only is this a great story telling movie with amazing visuals but it also has an all star cast. Matt Damon does a great job playing Mark Watney, with the majority of his scenes being alone on Mars. The supporting cast of Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor are just as great and add a more grounding and realistic element to the rescue mission plot of the movie. A character that I really enjoyed was the young NASA analyst Mindy Park played by Mackenzie Davis. Her character is just some nobody NASA employee that discovered Watney was alive and got caught up in the mission and put in charge of monitoring Watney's movements on Mars. While it's a minor role, a few scenes here and there, it brings in a character that the audience can relate to.
The movie does have a couple of minor problems, none of which really distracts from the story, but rather would have enhanced it. There is almost no mention of Mark Watney's family or life back home. Adding something small like that would give more weight to Watneys motivations for returning to Earth. Another small part that was a bit overlooked was the integration of working with the Chinese government. There was scene discussing working together but then it just happens. I'm guessing this could be due to time constraints but an extra scene negotiating between the two governments trying to solve this problem would have added more realism to the movie. Again these are just minor issues, the majority of the movie is fantastic.
After seeing other movies, like Gravity and Interstellar, The Martian is probably my favorite. For me the pacing and use of humor are what made it more enjoyable and kept me invested. Overall this is a fun movie with some suspense and action that I highly recommend every one seeing. This is one that I will for sure end up buying on Blu-Ray when it comes out.