The Martian

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 2nd October, 2015
Time : 141 minutes
Director : Ridley Scott; Writer : Drew Goddard based on the book by Andy Weir; Music : Harry Gregson-Williams
Starring : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, Benedict Wong



You’d probably never want to be stranded 140 million miles away from the nearest help. But Matt Damon finds himself in this particularly unique quandary, left behind for dead on Mars, the rest of the crew (Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Michael Pena among others) leaving him for dead during a Martian storm and heading back for Earth

The movie then focuses on Matt’s efforts to keep himself alive (without being in touch with Earth or his crew) and NASA’s attempts to bring him back. Jeff Daniels is the NASA Director who is trying to balance secrecy, need for funding, PR and the desire to get him back while Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean (ground leader of the mission’s return home), Benedict Wong and Donald Glover try to come up with ways to get him back.

Am not a scientist but a lot of what happens seems to be very far-fetched, and you have to remember it’s a Hollywood film after (lots of poetic license probably) but still manages to hold your attention throughout by building engaging characters and making them do interesting things. I also liked the fact that Chiwetel has a Hindu father and a Indian surname and that NASA had to seek another nation’s help…

There are a couple of particularly interesting pieces of dialogue in the film – one which talks about colonization (how the act of growing crops can help you lay claim to land) and the other about how everything that Matt does is a first in Martian history ie if he climbs a hill, or goes for a short stroll, he’s the first person to have done so in the 4 billion year history of that planet

Matt is excellent and very believable in the central role. The supporting cast is super, the visuals are great, as with most space movies these days. The background score what you would expect. The dialogue is good, crisp, thankfully doesn’t get too maudlin or jingoistic. However, there is a touch of predictability about certain aspects which probably prevents the film from becoming a true classic…