Meh (Contains Spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2015)

Bullet holes in a nice vehicle = Martian Note: This is full of spoilers so be warned! -The name of the movie would probably be more appropriate as, "Bring Him Back". I asked around and everyone I talked to didn't know a martian had to specifically be from Mars, they thought it was just from "anywhere in space" which would be a confusing title - because everyone in the film is human.

They never explicitly said what a SOL is - granted it can be figured out - to the non science inclined this is an annoying term they use when DAY would suffice. Pivotal? no, but hugely important? yes, because they say "SOL xxx" hundreds of times in the movie which brings me to: -The SOL days - They introduce too many variables, to the point the viewer doesn't know how desperate or helpless Damon's situation actually is. "He has enough food for 400 days, which is 200 days short of rescue (okay so that's DOOM, he WILL DIE), then his crop freezes and dies, oh yeah! he has 200 days of reserve food, he can last to SOL 580, but they're coming SOL 620, if he drives to this other rocket, a 150 day drive, he can blast off, SOL 138!" ----it all becomes so redundant, confusing and you never know what the hell is true - What broke the film for me wasn't SOL days or Damon's jokes (I was actually glad to see a sarcastic hero astronaut, I thought it worked).... but the teenage laptop dude that solves NASA's incredibly complex problems. The guy, you know, in soooo many of these films, the guy who drinks red bull, plays techno music, has 15 computer screens, lives at his parents or on college campus, and somehow figures out NASA's space crap? That guy?!! Not in a critically acclaimed space movie involving Damon and Ridley Scott, no way.... BUT YES! Are you serious! A dozen similar movies before this make "slingshot around an object" a pivotal plot move, we expect it. So when a teenage kid is the genius who figures this out in Martian, and drives to NASA lol.... I just lol'd.

In Apollo 13 it's easy to recognize the team in Houston lead by Ed Harris. For some reason, the team on earth in this movie... is scattered, confusing, role-less (like what was the blonde's point?), just too many players on earth in too many changing locations, it becomes a distraction. And why did they feel the need to label certain people as they appeared... LOOL, it should be obviously apparent who the character is, this is storytelling with film 101 - Set/prop design was incredible - which made the macro scale special effects seem not as good by comparison.

It was like a good burger. Sure, it tasted better than most burgers, but it's still a burger with the usual ingredients: storm wipes them out, guy left behind, must defy odds, teenage nerd discovers secret to win, drama ensues back home, gotta eject and float through space while someone grabs you, fairytale ending. Too formulaic in my opinion.

Worth it, but so is every decent space movie, because I like space movies, but will I buy it on hard copy later? Prolly not.