A sci-fi disaster/survival masterpiece based on Andy Weir's gripping 2011 novel. This is an incredible film – dramatic and terrifying, but also surprisingly funny and moving.
Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is stranded alone on Mars when a vicious storm forces his mission to be aborted and the rest of the crew have to abandon him in their escape. Much of the story details Watney’s attempts to stay alive on the planet by drawing on his resourcefulness and extraordinary positivity. He manages to extend his survival time by farming potatoes. Another major thread covers the NASA rescue plans being debated and prepared on Earth. Meanwhile, the original mission crew (with Jessica Chastain as the commander) are in transit back home when the opportunity to turn around and save Watney becomes a possibility...
There’s so much that’s great about The Martian:
• It looks amazing, like most of Ridley Scott's work. Those vast, red Martian landscapes are striking and seem incredibly real.
• The music is perfectly chosen (Watney is stranded with a load of disco classics) and is expertly matched to various scenes. The collage segments set to David Bowie’s "Starman" and Abba’s "Waterloo" are among the absolute highlights of the film.
• The casting is excellent: Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig are all ideal in their parts. Every character counts, and so does every line of dialogue.
• The drama is perfectly paced, building to an unbearable tension in the final moments. But despite that I found myself smiling or laughing for quite a lot of the 141-minute running time.
One other thought: it's interesting that so many of the best films of the past few years – Arrival, Gravity, Moon, Passengers and this one – have all been sci-fi.
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