Movie Review - The Martian

Let me put it this way - Cast Away meets Marooned meets Gravity is what 'The Martian' is. Simply put, an astronaut gets stranded in mars and he has to live it out until help arrives. The bad thing is, the people on Earth think he is dead and they've moved on with their lives.

This movie could have been depressing as hell, but to my surprise, it actually was light- hearted and at times, funny. That was because, our protagonist was a funny guy. Matt Damon is a very good actor and he shows it in this movie. However there is one scene that showcases his acting capabilities. I've seen umpteen sick, gory movies like Cannibal Holocaust, the Saw series etc. without even a flinch (yes, I'm an insensitive SOB). But there was one scene during the first quarter of the film where I was like "oooh, that looks painful". Remember people, Matt Damon made me flinch.

The rest of the supporting cast were also top tier. Guys like Chiwetel Ejiofor or even Jessica Chastain were all top of the line (no surprise there). Sean Bean was also thrown in there and he didn't die for once. The performances were all very good.

The only thing that bugged me about the story was that any normal person would have be depressed as shit given the case our protagonist was in. But he took it lightly, making jokes to himself and goofing around a bit which I thought was slightly unrealistic. But what do I know? If I had been that guy, I think I would have sat there and cried like a baby until I was dead.

The visuals were good. Nothing spectacular here. We've seen Space a million times before in movies. Mars looks like a desert, so nothing cool about that. And about the 3D...it wasn't anything special either. The depth was there and that's it. You might as well go for 2D.

Overall, the movie was good. I just don't understand the hype surrounding it as I didn't find anything that I haven't seen before. If you ask me, the movie should be a one-time affair. If only I could find that "ping" sound that appears in the movie to set it as my message notification tone...

Score - 6.5/10