A Combination of Great Intelligence and Surprising Laughs,

Rating: 9/10 (9 October 2015)

The Martian is a fantastic movie with a very well developed storyline and an outstanding cast. I was very surprised with how good this film really was, it may look like a clichéd Ridley Scott film at first, but it had a very compelling story that sucks you in almost immediately, you are drawn to these characters and their adventure from start to finish. It is difficult to comprehend how logical it is, even though you may not know whether it is possible to survive on Mars, you can tell that Scott and Goddard did their research and made sure that Mark Watney's methods of survival made sense. One thing that I think could have improved was the sense of losing hope, there is never a moment where Mark or any other NASA employees completely lose hope in succeeding in their journey, no part were all of their plans completely fall apart and there is no sign of their problems being solved, this is an aspect of storytelling that should certainly be evident in all movies, it builds the audiences care for the characters. The films cast is fantastic, Matt Damon shines in the lead role and I could easily say this is one of the greatest performances of his career, Mark is very funny, I was surprised at how much he made me laugh, he was also likable and charming. Damon also has a lot of depth, there's certainly two sides to him, though he always seems confident he will make it home, we can always see doubt and frustration in his eyes, in his voice, the characterization of Watney was phenomenal and he deserves huge praise. He is also joined by an outstanding supporting cast that are just as inspired, I can not possibly name them all but I have to mention Jessica Chastain, a fabulous actress who is slowly becoming one of my favourites, Chiwetel Ejiofor steals every scene he is in as usual and Jeff Daniels really impressed me playing a flawed character who somehow never loses likability, Kristen Wiig also deserves praise, while this movie is funny, she surprisingly never delivers a single humorous piece of dialogue and is a very impressive dramatic actress, I look forward to hopefully seeing her in more dramas in the future. Intriguing, terrific effects, stunning character development and a flawless cast, the Martian is one of the best movies of the year, not to be missed by any fans of Sci-Fi or Adventure.
After being presumed dead while on a manned mission to Mars, Mark Watney tries to get in contact with NASA, shocking his crew and the rest of the world in the process by discovering he is still alive. He must fight for survival on Mars while NASA plans his rescue.
Best Performance: Matt Damon