The best sci-fi movie for years!

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2015)

The Martian follows the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on a place where nothing lives or grows, Mars. For most of the runtime (this is quite a long film at 2 and a half hours) we spend time on this planet with Watney, and with such a brilliant performance from Matt Damon it is a pleasure to do so.
As soon as the film starts we are thrown straight into the action and feel what it's like to be in Watney's shoes. What we are given is an incredibly intense and realistic portrayal of loneliness and desperation from Damon and director Ridley Scott. It is also fascinating to watch Watney do his "sciency stuff" where he actually creates his own water and grows his own food, which is thought to be impossible on Mars. It is ironic that the film shows us this in the same week water actually was discovered on Mars, but even so it is so interesting to see these aspects. The supporting cast also do a great job, especially Watney's crew who just want to get him back to earth. Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara.. the list goes on and they all shine as well as Jeff Daniels who we really don't know whether he is one of the good guys or not. The standout however comes from my man Donald Glover, i love the guy and he steals every scene he is in even if it is only for a short time.
Overall, see this film. It is one if the best 2015 has to offer and remains in my top 5 of the year so far. It was like Interstellar meets castaway with less fantasy and more realism. One question though.. why does Hollywood keep letting Matt Damon get lost?! Have they not learnt by now?