Reviewed by whammo-79346 10 /10 pleasantly surprised In the end we get to the fist-pumping mission control scenes that we all knew were coming, but along the way the film is slickly packaged and entertaining as a result even if the oft-mentioned scientific validity of it all is not something it ever seems concerned with itself. Technically it looks great and it impressive how convincing the surface of Mars looks.

The Chinese aspects of the plot serves as another reminder that this film is a blockbuster out to make money, but it doesn't seem too out of place. The ensemble cast has a lot of depth to it, all of which are solidly watchable – Chastain, Wiig, Daniels, Eiofor, Peña, Bean, and so on. Damon is consistently likable, which is just as well since he is alone in the vast majority of his scenes. The starry cast add to this feeling, and use their screen presence well. The soundtrack is hugely upbeat, the content is mostly light in tone, and the science is delivered in a very user-friendly fashion – essentially in the service of the tone and the entertainment value, nothing more than this. The film itself doesn't really play up the drama in a heavy way, but rather does enough to invest the viewer in it without making it too much of a downer or serious. As a result the film gets to have its cake and eat it – although the film is helped by the knowledge of a lot of this being possible (eg hitting a point near Pluto recently with very tight tolerances on a journey of years). As a result everything seems to be explained with everyday objects, and even the most complex principles are presented in simple terms (references to Iron Man for instance). The story wears its science very much on its sleeve, but yet makes it accessible and fun – with the slick presentation making it so. As it happens, this is not the case at all because The Martian has much more in common with the entertaining blockbuster that the starry cast list and presentation suggest it will be. Perhaps as a result of this I assumed that the film would be a dry affair – an impression sort of confirmed by the longer than normal running time. I heard a lot about this film regarding its scientific validity as a piece of fiction. Reviewed by bob the moo N/A Entertaining and slick enough to make you go with it

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