Starring: Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara

Directed by: Ridley Scott

So I went and saw the movie, “The Martian” today and here is my review:

Plot/Synopsis: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

I read the book before I saw the movie. While the movie was pretty faithful to the book and followed along pretty well; however, it was of course a little different. The movie is always different from the book so it’s nothing new anyways.

I thought the movie was really good but did I think it was the best movie of the year, though? No, definitely not. The movie was enjoyable and entertaining as hell, though. I thought it was Matt Damon’s best role and he should get Oscar nominated for this one for sure. Of course, the movie was beautifully filmed ’cause Ridley Scott is always the master at visuals and cinematography.

I thought the movie was well-written and well-acted by the cast; however, my only disappointment was that it shouldn’t have been rated PG-13. It should have been R rated ’cause the book was full of swearing. In the movie version, they pretty much took out most of the swearing. Part of what made the book entertaining is all the swearing. There is this character named Annie Montrose who Kristen Wiig plays. Her character says the word “fuck” a lot in the book but in the movie version, she hasn’t said one swear word. In the book, Annie Montrose was the only character who swore a lot other than Mark Watney. That’s my only negative about the movie was that Annie didn’t swear ’cause that’s part of what made her character work in the book.

I didn’t know Jeff Daniels could play in a serious role like that ’cause he’s mostly well-known for playing in goofy comedies like “Dumb and Dumber”. It was different seeing Jeff in a role like that for sure.

Other than that, it was a real good movie, I enjoyed it for the most part… just wished they kept all the swearing. It’s definitely not the best film of the year, though, it’s too early to decide that yet ’cause keep in mind, y’all, we still have “The Force Awakens” coming.

Score for “The Martian”… *** 3 stars as in “good”.

Kev