He’s grungy and unshaved, hasn’t had an unplanned meal in over 6 months, and the last human contact he had was during a dust storm that could have cost him his life. Mark Watney’s life has gone from exhilarating to deadly in a matter of moments.

     Based on the novel by Andy Weir, also titled The Martian, Ridley Scott brings to life the main character, Mark Watney’s (Matt Damon), plight after being stranded on the desolate planet Mars. In an age of new films technologies, more and more sci-fi movies like Gravity and Interstellar have taken theaters by storm, and Scott’s The Martian is no exception to the fad.

     Within moments the plot is quite literally launched as a NASA research team makes an emergency exit when an unplanned dust storm interrupts their collection of samples. During their getaway, Botanist Mark Watney is impaled by flying debris and presumed to be dead as his crew has no other choice but to leave the dangerous planet behind with him, unknowingly, alive. Upon waking up after the storm recedes, Mark quickly springs to action and applies first aid on himself in a show of intense mental strength as he pulls out an antenna stuck in his body. After the initial threat is gone, he soon comes to realize that he is trapped on a desolate planet with no food, no water, and no way to tell anyone that he is alive. If there was a worst, worst case scenario, it has suddenly become his life and he must now figure out how to keep himself alive.

     This action and anxiety ridden plot makes for an enjoyable film, and Scott does an excellent job when it comes to time jumps and point of view jumps. Seeing as Mark is on a planet all by himself, it makes sense that Scott would have to jump between Mars and Earth to give insight as to what is happening in efforts to bring him home. Scott does this quite effectively in that every character’s point of view is not imposing on the storyline of another character’s issues. These jumps are extremely effective in their ability to clear up the separate environments each character is in, which makes the film that much more clear.

     Even with effective time and point of view jumps, the 2 hours and 22 minutes begins to become a long and drawn out experience at times, as they’re lulls in the plot where the action and drama die down to idle time. This becomes boring because the anxiety that builds throughout the film comes to abrupt halts and it makes the viewer impatient. Despite this, the plot does it’s best to steer back to the scenes that cause interest so overall those scenes are balanced out.

The acting done in this film is also one of the films best attributes. The contemporary ideal ‘American character’, as described by film critic Manohla Dargis, Matt Damon does an excellent job of portraying the desperation and unwavering determination that is Mark Watney’s character. He integrates his own exuberant personality into Watney’s outlook towards his situation, giving the film comic relief in areas where the plot line breaks. Damon had to go through quite the character change from his usual clean cut American Boy style to an underfed and worry-ridden botanist turned castaway. It was done in a way that didn’t seem overdone or scary, but it was very believable. Not just Damon, but Kate Mara, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Sean Bean put on an amazing performance. Above all, Donald Glover’s character, Rich Purnell, was an amazing addition to the film actor wise and character wise. Glover plays a quirky scientist who probably hasn’t seen natural sunlight in a few days and in addition to his character being a key part to the plot, Glover fit the character role to a T– almost like it was made for him. The acting didn’t seem awkward or stunted even though Rich was intended to be a gawky person.

     A movie may have a good plot and amazing actors, but it’s nothing without the visual components– luckily Scott did not lack in this department either. Sci-fi movies can often be over dramatized or too anxious to shoot for the moon (literally), but the picture in The Martian was perfectly balanced between reasonable and breathtaking. Seeing as NASA has already been to Mars through the use of probes, Scott didn’t have much room for error, but he added his own components that gave the bereft and dismal wasteland that is Mars a type of rugged beauty that one could appreciate– the opening scene being an excellent example.

     Overall, I’d say that The Martian, like any other movie, has it’s less desirable parts, but it makes up for those through so much more. I’d definitely recommend seeing this movie– maybe not a late night showing like I did, but it’s not a film I regret. Out of all the space themed movies I’ve seen– and I’ve seen a lot– this would for sure be a movie to recommend to those who enjoy astronomy and possibly even botany. Ridley Scott brings to the table a whole new take on characters and castaways, that sets this apart from the rest. It’s not a film one would feel remorseful about, so go check it out!