The Martian

Science fiction films have always been a favorite with the movie going audience as far back as I can remember, and I'm 63 years young. And more to the point, the planet Mars has been the most used, maybe over-used planet in which to write. We've seen "Total Recall" (two versions), "Red Planet" and others. So when I saw my first trailer on "The Martian", I thought this particular premise certainly had promise and after viewing it, my presumptions were correct.

During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew including Capt. Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Rick Martinez (Michael Pena), Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) and Aksel Hennie (Alex Vogel). But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA including the director, Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and the director of Mars Mission, Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), along with a team of scientists work tirelessly to bring 'the Martian' home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

Others to round out the cast are Kristen Wiig as Annie Montrose, NASA's PR Director, Sean Bean as Mitch Henderson, Flight Director for NASA, Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park, Donald Glover as Rich Purnell, Benedict Wong as Bruce Ng, Jonathan Aris as Brendan Hatch and Enzo Cilenti as Mike Watkins.

Even though Matt Damon is an accomplished actor, and he exceled in this, I can't help but think that it had something to do with the director which is veteran Ridley Scott ("The Duelists" '77, "Alien" '79, "Blade Runner" '82, "Legend" '85, "Thelma & Louise" '91, "White Squall" '96, "Gladiator" 2000, "Hannibal" '01, "Black Hawk Down" '01, "Matchstick Men" '03, "American Gangster" '07, "Prometheus" '12, "The Counselor" '13, "Exodus: Gods and Kings" '14) plus others. The way Watney had to transform from being shocked that he was alive, to being fearful to wonderment of what to do, to strategizing his plan, all the while running into pitfalls and having to 'climb' out from them was pure directing genius. Of course this guy has proven himself time and again, so one can truly expect that the direction is going to be solid no matter if the project is lackluster otherwise. The film was well written by Drew Goddard ("Cloverfield" '08, "The Cabin in the Woods" '12, "World War Z" '13) based on the book by Andy Weir. Even though this writer has limited writing experience, I believe he is a natural. His work is perennially well thought out even if the subject matter is questionable or weird. The sci-fi genre isn't one of my favorites, but if something is well written with an interesting premise, I can and do enjoy them. Think about it: a guy who is a botanist growing plants on a planet with no growth and using science to accomplish this. This is original and the script makes it look so plausible. The visual effects were predominantly created by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), MPC (Moving Picture Company) and Framestore and were not only seamless, but didn't take away from this interesting storyline at all. In fact, on the contrary, they enhanced the script.

This film has it all: Excitement, adventure, fear, ingenuity, reflection and consignment all in a neat 3D format to make it look even bigger. This is a film that must be seen by all, because all will love it--I sure did.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                  Rated: PG-13                                   141mins.