By Joseph Fedro ’18

The Martian is a strong movie staring Matt Damon. The movie features the fight for survival that Damon’s character must undergo while on Mars. This Sci-Fi survival adaptation has been compared to the recent ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Gravity.’ The Martian is yet another Ridley Scott film that is visually remarkable.

The stunning visuals allow the viewer to experience a bit of concern for Mark Watney (Matt Damon). Within the first few minutes of the science fiction film, the audience is already on the edge of their seats as Watney, thought to be dead, is left behind by his crewmates. On mars, he uses the team’s abandoned supplies to fight his way to his rescue, a four-year dilemma. Watney has a surprising optimistic point of view, believing he wont die on mars. This allows the movie to differentiate from other Sci Fi survival movies while giving it some comical aspect.

The movie experiences its drama, but no notable suspense, such as in Gravity. Watney remains fairly calm and optimistic throughout the movie while the best minds work together to try to bring him home. Yet, the movie seemed fairly predictable. Watney walked the viewer step by step through his actions. Everything seemed to be going up to plan-he had an effective way of communicating to NASA and was growing food in the masses. Small hints like these prepare the viewer for when disaster strikes.

All in all, The Martian is a strong movie. Unlike Interstellar, The Martian has very little science and astrophysics jargon, which consequently makes it more enjoyable to the casual Sci-Fi enthusiast. I would highly recommend this movie if you have any interest in Astronomy, Sci-Fi, or survival adaptation.