Sci-fun

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2015)

If the jubilant 80s soundtrack and snappy wisecracks of last year's lively space romp, 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' revived the sanguine sci-fi, then Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' has taught it to walk. In what could have easily echoed Warner Bros.' award-winning space disaster epic, 'Gravity,' 'The Martian,' rather, not only evokes an optimistic outlook on space exploration but also injects a rebellious dose of realism and humor despite its eccentric protagonist being stranded 140 million miles from the planet we call home.
Reserving its 'Gravity' parallels to the beautiful CGI crimson storm of an opening sequence, echoing 'Alien'-like helmet lamps in the process, Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) is subsequently forced to withdraw her exploration crew from the red planet. Although the team of Kate Mara, Aksel Hennie, Sebastian Stan, and a delightful Michael Pena escape Mars in one piece – Chastain's Melissa made the strenuous decision of abandoning Botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) after being separated by the storm and impaled by a radio antenna, suggesting his suit has been severely breached. Yet, the very antenna that stranded Watney also plugged the breach, which in itself is a miracle if it wasn't immediately overshadowed by the fact that he's also trapped on Mars with only enough sols (Martian days) of food to last just over a year; the next mission arrives in 4. Henceforth, Watney is tasked with growing food on a planet where nothing grows; finding water on a planet where none flows (as of filming); and communicate with NASA millions of miles away – all of which Watney accomplishes with a smile, witty self documentation, and survival proficiently that would make Les Stroud proud and Neil Armstrong weep.
FULL REVIEW HERE: http://indieadam.com/2015/10/01/the-martian-review-indieadam-tiff- 2015/