Watchable, but not very involving

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2016)

First, the science in this movie is severely lacking in many places. It's nice that they tried to make it more science and less fiction, but, that actually set the bar much higher, which is why it fails harder.
In fact, the best part of the movie is what goes on at NASA, on Earth. It is well written, directed and played, for the most part. That is interesting, for a movie envisioned to be about Mars.
Also, the movie essentially rests on Mat Damon's performance, as any survival movie rests on the people that are doing the surviving. But, he just doesn't do a good enough job. One actually likes his Interstellar performance much more, even though it is almost a completely opposite character, albeit in a similar situation.
The visuals are great and the technical aspects of the movie are well done, so, it's watchable. It just feels a little flat.