This Should be a Horrible Situation but I can't Stop Laughing

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2015)

I just came from the theater and I have to say that this movie is hands down one of the best this year. It's dramatic, funny, and suspenseful all at the same time and it's filled with a ton of heart. This is a bit of a return to form for Ridley Scott in my opinion. I'm not as down on Scott as some people are but I have to admit that The Martian is easily better than his last few movies. If you haven't watched it yet then go ahead and watch the movie before you read any more reviews. I'll try not to spoil too much but do yourself a favor and go watch it. Trust me, it's awesome.
The story starts out with an astronaut named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) collecting soil samples on Mars. He and his crew mates are there as part of a NASA mission called Ares III. The mission seems to be going well until a massive sandstorm causes the crew to abandon the planet and head for their ship in orbit. Mark is hit by a piece of debris during the storm and knocked out. The rest of the crew believe that Mark is dead and make a hasty retreat from Mars. However, it turns out that Mark survived the storm and now needs to find a way to survive long enough for NASA to send a rescue mission to take him back to Earth. This involves using everything at his disposal to contact NASA, grow food, and avoid insanity.
This cast is probably one of the best I've seen in a movie in a long time. Matt Damon's Watney is easy to sympathize and empathize with and it feels like he's speaking to us throughout the film using his video journal logs. These are actually pretty hilarious and it's nice to see the character have such a good sense of humor about everything. The rest of the crew are also played by some absolutely phenomenal talent. Jessica Chastain plays the captain of the mission, Melissa Lewis. She's tough enough to make difficult decisions but she cares very deeply for her crew. That's probably easy to do when you spend two years of your life with these people. I'm a huge Michael Pena fan so I was glad to see that he played the pilot Rick Martinez. This guy is hilarious in everything he does and this movie is no exception. The crew is rounded off by the superb acting talents of Kate Mara, Aksel Hennie, and Sebastian Stan. What more can I say, they brought out the talent for this one.
Did you think we were done with the awesome cast? Oh no, not even close. The bigwigs and support crew back on Earth are also played by some truly great talent. Jeff Daniels plays Teddy Sanders, the director of NASA. This guy is a lot more likable than the trailers led me to believe. He's a serious guy but he cares deeply for the people working for him and has to make some pretty difficult decisions. Daniels does a great job portraying this balancing act that Teddy is going through. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the director of the mission, Vincent Kapoor. Ejiofor is another one that has to make tough decisions but shows a bit more humor than his boss. There are so many talented actors in this movie it's a bit crazy. Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, and so many more all did a great job in the film. Heck, it was nice to see Sean Bean survive in a movie for once.
Mars looks phenomenal in this film. I was a little worried that it would feel like Mark was in the desert rather than a desolate planet but they avoided that completely. This place screams loneliness but it's beautiful in a melancholy kind of way. I'm a big fan of the way they pulled it off. I also need to add that this movie is much funnier than I thought it was going to be. There are parts where I straight up had to laugh out loud from the sheer absurdity of what this poor man is saying to himself (or to us). One of the best parts of the movie is having Mark share his thoughts with us and make us laugh at his truly horrible situation.
I was expecting this movie to be good but it easily surpassed all my expectations. It keeps you on the edge of your seat but it also makes you laugh and smile. I have nothing bad to say about this film. It was close to two and a half hours long but it just flew by for me. Do yourself a favor and go watch this one. This is easily one of the funnest films all year and it deserves all the success it can get.