The Martian

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Year:	2015
Country of origin:	USA / UK
Director:	Ridley Scott
Genre:	Sci-fi
Starring:	Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig,  Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kate Mara? Benedict Wong
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/
Tagline:	Bring Him Home
Favourite line:	"I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the greatest botanist on this planet"

Ridley Scott returns to the genre that made his name.
Will it be less divisive than his previous effort, Prometheus?

The plot:
It’s 2035, and initial attempts to explore Mars are underway, the Ares III a manned mission already on the planet. Whilst conducting standard scientific shenanigans, the crew are warned of a significant storm front moving in. Attempting to make their way back to their lander, the storm hits, and such is the ferocity that one of their number is lost. Though the commander attempts to locate him, sensors on his life suit indicate that he is depressurised, out of oxygen, and surely dead.
So they clear off.
Back to Earth.
A journey of several months.
Awakening some time after the storm has passed, Mark Watney is astonished to discover that he is still alive. Battered, with a piece of metal jutting from his belly, and utterly alone on an alien world, he manages to make his way back to the habitable base camp, patches himself up, then sits down to think.
How to survive on a planet where nothing can grow, with diminishing supplies of oxygen, and without hope of contacting home? Easy, right?
Just recycle the poo.

What from the outset appears as if it may well play out as something of a one-hander, is actually a more complicated affair, with a veritable roster of characters.
An ensemble, if you will.
Matt Damon shines as the astronaut tasked with the impossible challenge of surviving in conditions both bleak and barren, and does something that we have never seen from him before: demonstrates a knack for comic timing.
Well scripted, the characters are likeable enough, but there is a massive problem slap bang at the heart of this movie: it’s entirely predictable from beginning to end. From the initial catastrophe that sees our hero stranded, through the messages back to Earth, through the decisions made by others to decide his fate, through the heroism of all involved, through the mid-point ‘exciting incident’ that tips his world back into chaos just as all had seemed to settle down, through the denouement which may as well have had flashing neon lights saying STORY GOES THIS WAY.
Listen, it’s well played, it’s well conceived, it’s well delivered, it’s just…..well….obvious as all tits.
Effects-wise, it’s nothing special. Prometheus was a far more impressive visual spectacle. Indeed, the opening sequences involving the tempest lashing at the Mars based team of ‘Stronauts – as all the cool kids are calling them these days – look distinctly shonky, reminiscent of the glory days of BBC CGI from good old Tom Baker era Doctor Who. Well, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture. It’s clear that the characters are in no way interacting with the digital effects that are literally whipping up a storm on screen.
So, decent if shallow is the final analysis.
Highlights. Well, poo-tatoes, Damon’s humour, and some cool scienceing (sic) the shit off things.
Lowlights. Signposted twists, an obnoxious soundtrack and shaky effects work.
Pretty average, really, and we’re really surprised to be saying that.
Damn.