The Martian (2015)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Synopsis:
An astronaut stranded on Mars struggles to survive while NASA devises a plan for his rescue.

Impressions:
I'll be honest with you. The last movie of Ridley Scott's that I thought was any good was Black Hawk Down. While I haven't seen everything in his filmography since then, everything I have seen past '01 I haven't liked. Ergo, "a Ridley Scott film" hasn't been a selling point for me in years. Besides joking about this being a remake of Robinson Crusoe on Mars, I really didn't pay this movie a second thought. Then I actually saw it, and, dang, color me surprised. This is actually a really good movie. It's basically a near-future Apollo 13 with a strong ensemble cast and a particularly fine performance by Matt Damon. There's more hardness to the science than most scifi films, which is a nice aversion for science nerds in particular. The Mars side of the story is strong enough by itself, but there's also good drama to be had back on Earth. It's a fine all-around package and I highly recommend it. Give it a watch.

Rating:
Watch It