While we're waiting impatiently for more Prometheus and Alien adventures, Ridley Scott has served us this Mars adventure based on a 2011 novel by Andy Weir. Nope, I haven't read it.
A Mars mission has to be aborted, because of a giant badass storm on the planet. One of the astronauts is lost and is assumed dead. The remaining crew are forced to leave the planet and begin their journey back to Earth. It would however have been the end of the movie if he was dead, so of course he isn't.
He makes it back to the Mars base and has to find a way to survive his critical situation on the hostile planet, having way too little food and no way to contact the Earth. The next planned Mars mission is 4 years away. Matt Daaaaaaaaaamon is not quite as stupid as the movie Team America[2004] made us believe, so he figures out a way to grow potatoes and he finds a way to contact Earth for help.
The movie is quite long, running for almost 2 and a half hours, but it is never boring. It is a slow Sci-Fi, but it is both entertaining and funny to feel the astronaut's frustration and to share his successes. It doesn't all seem equally believable, but for a space drama, it all works quite well.
I won't give it a top rating, because the way he is finally saved (yes, what the hell did you expect? If he had died, there would be no movie either) is easily predictable almost from the beginning and some of the events don't come as any surprise either. Also the last space drama is just too stupid and unbelievable and also quite unnecessary.
If you are a fan of Sci-Fi, I'll clearly recommend it. It's a happy movie, and it's really well done. The 3D is satisfying too, without being as impressive as it was in Gravity[2013]. The actors are all doing fine jobs. Matt Damon is excellent in his solitude and Jessica Chastain is also a favorite of mine as the Commander. Believe it or not, Sean Bean doesn't even die in this movie. I told you it was a happy movie!
Rating:
Movie Title: The Martian (3D)
Director: Ridley Scott
This Release: 2015
Genre: Sci-Fi
RunTime: 144
Actors: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean
Movie Format: Cinema
Content Type: Movie Review
Language:
Updated: 2015-10-17 18:27
Created: 2015-10-17 17:53