The Martian (2015) introduces Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) as he is left behind on Mars after being presumed dead and must survive while his friends plan a rescue mission.

Based off the novel by Andy Weir, this space drama directed by Ridley Scott is a terrific story of survival and perseverance in a hostile environment. A film this focused on a sole individual would fail if that individual was unlikable or annoying; fortunately, Damon brings so much life to his character and makes this dismal, worst-case scenario into an exuberant adventure full of humor and a fair amount of peril, balancing in a way that makes for an instantly rewatchable film.

The setting of Mars itself is daunting and provides for a fresh take in the survival genre. The environment is seemingly infinite and wonderfully befuddling, a place in which we would never want to be stuck in but in which we enjoy seeing how a determined person could use his scientific know-how in order to survive. That's my favorite part of the film, the idea that Damon could use what he has and somehow carve out for himself a suitable shelter with the necessities of life in an environment that seems to go out of its way to kill us.

The supporting cast includes Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover, and a couple others that help make the sequences that aren't on Mars just as engaging. A mistake often made in movies like this is devoting the creative effort to the actual survival story, but not the other parts where (hopefully) people are reacting and attempting to rescue. This movie did both, and I saw that Scott truly cared about this project enough to make it entertaining and seem much shorter than its two and a half hour runtime.

The Martian is a great space-survival film directed by an experienced director in the science fiction genre. Matt Damon delivers an exceptional performance and brings a wide range of emotions to the table that you wouldn't expect from somebody in his position. I like to think that I would have his mentality if I were ever marooned on the Red Planet.

👍 👍