Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels
Director: Ridley Scott
Genre: Science Fiction
Duration: 141 minutes
Now showing: Cinema Magic Metroplex Mall Naalya and Century Cinemax Acacia Mall, Kisementi.
The Martian is not about a spooky dude from Mars who tries to adapt to Earth. That is what I thought the novel by Andy Weir was about before reading it. Instead, the plot follows Mark Watney (Damon) who was part of a mission to Mars. However, something goes wrong and Mark is presumed dead. His crew gets back to Earth, their hearts filled with grief.
However, back at Mars, Mark wakes up and it turns out he had only passed out for a while. Being the clever guy that he is, he sends a message to his team, informing them of his predicament. Of course, his team is excited, and starts planning how to get him home. However, it is not easy as they would want it to be. Bringing Mark home means another mission, which would put other people’s lives in danger. With these issues, Mark has to find a way of surviving the inhospitable Mars. One is trying to grow food.
On paper, The Martian seems just like another movie about space exploration. However, its juice is in the script, direction and cast who make what could have otherwise been a science movie into an entertaining one as well. Drew Goddard who wrote the screenplay has experience dealing with stranded characters and making them interesting –see how long Lost lasted on TV for reference. Scott has directed his share of sci-fi movies and it shows from The Martian that he has mastered how to make science fun. It helps that he worked with NASA so that despite being this a fictional movie, there is some authenticity when it comes to matters space.
The cast are definitely the stars of the whole thing. Damon’s screen charisma and good humour make being stuck on Mars seem like a fun thing to do. Wiig does not drop her funny girl hat either despite taking on a serious role for the movie. In short, even if you are not a science fiction fan, these guys will make you enjoy watching the movie.
