*** This review may contain spoilers *** Matt Damon is a great Martian!

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2016)

The movie The Martian is about a group of astronauts who are on a mission to Mars known as the Ares 3. The main character is crew member Mark Watney, a botanist played by Matt Damon. Watney is accidentally left on the planet during a violent storm because he is thought to be dead. Jessica Chastain, who plays Melissa Lewis the commander of the Ares 3 mission, is plagued with guilt after learning Mark has survived and fears he will die on the planet since he does not have enough food or water to survive. Kristen Wiig gives an uncharacteristic serious performance as Annie Montrose a lead player for NASA. Jeff Daniels also delivers an outstanding performance as the Director of NASA, Teddy Sanders. Sanders is faced with tough calls throughout the film for the survival of the rest of the crew and the space program as a whole. However, he is met with resistance and mutiny like most authoritative figures in films. I felt the overall theme of the film was survival. From the first few minutes of viewing you realize that the crew is trying to survive the storm and make it off the planet alive. Then, Mark Watney, once left on Mars, realizes that he will have to use all his resources in order to survive. He is able to keep calm and decides he must try to make contact with NASA so that they will help plan his rescue. At a certain point, things go from bad to worse and all hope is lost. Watney, however, seemingly will not be broken and we see the cleverness of the botanist thrive and collapse throughout the film. Glancing rhythms are used in the film to invoke suspense in us as viewers. The editor is also successful in transitions in the film taking us from seeing the broadcast of Mark Watney's death announcement by NASA on the television screen to the live broadcast of it by zooming in on the screen. The film is definitely able to manipulate camera angles to convey the desperate situation Watney is faced with. Aerial views of Mars show us just how alone he really is on this desolate planet. The roller coaster ride for viewers of The Martian is as thrilling as Cast Away was in 2000. The question is will Mark Watney be able to survive without a volleyball named Wilson to help him through?