THE MARTIAN REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Based on Andy Weir's novel of the same name, Matt Damon stars as astronaut, Mark Watney, who has been left stranded on Mars and must find a way to survive there for at least three years before the next NASA mission. With only a limited amount of supplies, Watney must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. However, millions on miles away, NASA have discovered that he's alive and must figure a way to get him home before he dies of starvation. Full of drama and suspense with some witty and sarcastic comments from Damon's Watney, this is, by far, one of the best sci-fi films of this century, in my opinion.

I hadn't read Weir's book before seeing this film so I had no idea if Watney was going to return home safely or not. I was expecting a full-on dramatic sci-fi with many tense moments. I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did. However, this is not a comedy, it's because of Watney's humour and uplifting spirits that we never lose hope for him to get back home. Throughout the film, he uses a video blogging camera to document his life on Mars and remains optimistic even in his most difficult moments. 

Since this is a 12A (PG-13 in US), director Ridley Scott has had to tone down the violence and gore you normally see in most of his films. However, it wouldn't be a Ridley Scott film without at least one gross-out scene. This scene is within the first 10-15 minutes of the film and it's where Watney has to remove a small piece of debris from his abdomen and then staple his stomach back together. If you are squeamish, I'd suggest looking away for this scene. This was created to show the intensity of Watney's injury. 

The editing in this film in is really good. The films begins with the astronauts on their manned mission and within five minutes, a storm hits and the astronauts are forced to leave early. We are never left thinking 'Is Mark Watney alive?' because, obviously, that's the whole premise of the film. Despite this, we are constantly thinking (unless you've read the book and know what happens), 'Will Mark Watney get back home alive?'. Well, that's what I was thinking, anyway. The film then cuts back to NASA learning of the fact that Watney's is still alive and this is where they begin their planning on how to get him home safely. During this, I thought 'Why not ask the other astronauts to go back to Mars and get Watney?' but it's not as easy as that. NASA haven't told them that he's alive and Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), who decides to leave Watney's 'dead' body behind, has been left feeling guilty. Even when they find out that he is alive, it's a massive struggle between choosing to go home to their families or spending another three years away trying to rescue Watney.

(SPOILER FOR INTERSTELLAR) Many have compared this to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and I can understand why. Matt Damon's character gets left behind on a planet, just like in this film, and it also stars Jessica Chastain, however the two never had a scene together. This is why Damon was a bit reluctant on starring this film but Scott informed him it was 'completely different' and I agree. There are more differences than similarites between the two films and I would have to say I enjoyed The Martian more than I did with Interstellar. I'm not saying Nolan's Interstellar is a bad film, it's brilliant, it's just that I thought this was more enjoyable and easier to watch, in my opinion.

The special effects are brilliant too, it could easily win an Oscar next year. I'm hoping so anyway!

I would recommend this to fans of Interstellar, Gravity and Prometheus. 

8/10