“At some point everything’s going to go south on you…you can either accept that, or you can get to work.”

—Mark Watney

In the Ridley Scott’s sci-fi thriller The Martian, Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) and his crew (including Jessica Chastain, Michael Pea, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie) travel to Mars for a 30 day mission until disaster hits. When Astronaut Watney gets hit by a flying antenna pole during a dust storm on Mars and is assumed dead, his crew has no choice but to leave the planet. Hours later, Watney awakes, still on Mars—his helmet cracked, air leaking out—very much alive. After realizing his crew has left and he is alone on Mars, Watney faces his challenge: grow something “on a planet where nothing grows” and contact NASA to get rescued.

The movie centers on Watney’s expertise on science and botany to figure out how to survive in a space station meant to last only 30 days, and the use of combined brainpower of many scientists back on Earth (along with his crew still in space) trying to bring him back home. But before rescue can be planned, supplies must be sent to Watney in order for him to live long enough for them to come and get him.

This film, while a detour from my preferred film type (horror), was overall well put together and fun to watch. While the film seemed to drag on at times, it was usually broken up with a bit of humor or yet another thing going disastrously wrong. The cinematography was stunning and the disco-based soundtrack added elements of humor and lightheartedness to the movie. My only real criticism of this movie is the end:

(Skip this paragraph to avoid end-of-movie spoilers!)

While I thoroughly expected everyone to perish in the film, based on the numerous odds stacked against Watney and his survival, I was, while relieved, slightly disappointed at the lack of death the end entailed. Now I’m not necessarily complaining that the character you came to love throughout the film actually lived, but it did seem to take away from the plausibility of the film. How could a person survive, as shown in the movie, being launched into space with a barely functioning spacecraft and then puncturing a hole in his spacesuit to propel himself to safety?

(Okay, you can look now.)

For those worried about any explicit material covered in the movie, it does contain a few instances of swearing, a bare-bottomed Watney (from behind) and a few violent moments.

The movie was pretty astronomical, if I do say so myself. While normally any lack of a crazed killer typically renders movies dull for me, I enjoyed this film and the many intricacies of it. 

The film is definitely worth the watch for anyone who enjoys survival, thriller or space movies. With a dose of comedy that doesn’t take away from the plot, and an amazing cast (Kristen Wiig, Naomi Scott), The Martian was an overall well-done production that I would most definitely recommend seeing.