“The Martian,” the latest film from director Ridley Scott, is based on the novel by James Weir. Scott is known for directing classics such as “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator.” But he also had some misses with “A Good Year” and “The Counselor,” so many people didn’t know what to expect from his latest effort. It doesn’t disappoint, opening Oct. 2 at No. 1 at the box office, a position it also held the following week.
Contributed photo/Twentieth Century Fox
Matt Damon stars in ‘The Martian’ as Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars who must survive until a rescue team arrives.
Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets separated from his crew on Mars because of a Martian storm, with the crew abandoning the mission and presuming him dead. Watney survives but his communications equipment is destroyed, leaving him to seek shelter in the crew’s mission artificial habitat stationed on the planet. Using his botanist skills he must grow his own food to survive on Mars while trying to figure out how to communicate to NASA in hopes of having a team come rescue him.
Damon does a great job giving emotion to his role. You care for his character and want to see him survive in hopes of escaping the planet. The supporting cast of Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jeff Daniels do a great job in this movie.
From the scenes on Mars with Damon trying to survive and back on Earth with NASA trying to figure out how to get him back there is not one dull moment in the movie. The visual effects are well done and you feel as if you’re actually on Mars, which adds to the experience. It also balances out the funny moments, tense moments and the dialogue-heavy scenes, which still keep your interest.
“The Martian” is a great movie with great acting, story and writing. It is definitely one that should not be skipped and is one of Scott’s best films in a while. It doesn’t matter if you see it in 2-D or 3-D, just go out and see this movie. It’s out of this world.
