Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Martian (2015)

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Drew Goddard, Andy Weir

Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Askel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Bring Him Home

Plot: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.



My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Love it.  Here's the important stuff you need to know:  Sean Bean does not die!  Mark (Damon) really does science the shit out of his situation and it's a lot of fun watching him do it.  Michael Pena is hilarious and needs to be in more movies.  If there's a MARTIAN 2: THIS TIME THE POTATOES ARE FRIED, he needs to star in it.  I really liked the science-y nature of the picture.  Most of it seemed plausible and I really wanted it to be real, not knowing how much of it is legit. The other part I like, and this is huge, is that Mark didn't have a wife, a girlfriend or kids to get in the way.  The only thing driving him was simple survival for himself and no one else.  He didn't have anyone close to him getting in the way or motivating him.  This occurred to me late in the film and the more I thought about it afterward, the more I realized how rare of a thing this is in modern story-telling.  Loved it.  The effects were great, scenery, tension, humor, all of it.  I'll definitely see it again.  It was fun and it was a nice contrast to INTERSTELLAR (2014) when it comes to NASA-ish movies.  Ridley Scott has always been a director that will miss the mark every once in a while.  I was pleased that this one hit and it hit in a big way.  Loved it.

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