Review of The Martian (2015) by Emperorpenguin — 01 Oct 2015

The Martian is one of the most anticipated movies this year for me that turns out to be very entertaining and definitely one of the best so far in 2015.

The cast in this movie is huge, there are a lot of big names and talented newcomers. Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor are among the best performance in this movie. Ridley Scott did a really great job directing this movie as well as Drew Goddard for writing the screenplay. The movie is beautifully shot especially for the Mars and the space stuff. I didn't see it in 3D, and didn't think it would make a lot more differences since there are more "non-space" scenes than I expected. But I wouldn't mind watching it again in 3D as it is that enjoyable movie you could watch many times.

The writing in The Martian is good enough to keep you on the edge of your seat given how predictable the ending of this movie is. Few surprises are thrown here and there which is exciting. There is a lot of funny stuff that keeps this movie light and family friendly. For a sci-fi movie, there sure is a lot of science in this movie. For a person who knows just a little about science, this movie left me in awe watching what Mark Watney and NASA could do in a very messed-up situation one could imagine. This is also one of the weakness of this movie for me because with a lot of emphasizing in the science aspect, this movie lacks of depth for Mark Watney as the main character of this movie. I would love to see more beyond Mark Watney's optimism and his sense of humor and what is going on his mind that would make me not only root for him but also empathize for him just like what Gravity did with Sandra Bullock character. However, it is still very refreshing to me personally to see this optimistic character in a movie these days.