This movie grew on me with repeated viewings

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2020)

I've seen The Martian now numerous times, but the first time I watched it I was underwhelmed. The reason being that having loved Apollo 13 and having seen numerous documentaries about a real space emergency, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief with The Martian. Watching documentary footage of real people both in NASA and among the public becoming tearful at the successful landing of Apollo 13, just made me so aware that the scenes of the public anxiously waiting for Mark Watney to be rescued weren't real. It took a number of viewings for me to finally develop that suspension of disbelief to enjoy the ending. But every time I've watched it I like it more and more. Matt Damon is fantastic and so likeable in the role. He made the movie, but I also liked Jessica Chastain, and the whole cast really.