The Martian is Ridley Scott’s latest film, and this year’s definitive science-fiction piece. It has Matt Damon leading a stellar cast that includes, but is not limited to, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Kate Mara. It was adapted from the 2011 novel also titled The Martian, by Andy Weir.
The film looks to be the major science fiction film for the year, following suit from Interstellar last year, and Best Director winner Gravity the year before. It played at TIFF previously this year, and did quite well with both audiences and critics. The plot tells the tale of an astronaut, played by Matt Damon, who is on the first manned mission to Mars. There is some sort of accident, and he is presumed missing and dead, while he is really surviving on Mars. He begins to create a sustainable atmosphere for himself, and his signal is discovered by NASA back home, and they attempt to rescue him.
The film looks to be emotional, and chock full of great acting and action. As mentioned earlier, it boasts a stellar cast, including Jessica Chastain, who starred in last year’s Interstellar. Don’t worry though, this film isn’t as complex or as full of travelling in the fifth dimension as Interstellar was. This looks to be a more simple, adventurous film, about that classic story we all know and love; man against nature (with the obvious twist of Martian nature, of course).
With the coincidentally timely news of there being flowing water found on Mars, this is certainly a great film to watch with the family. Hopefully, the majesty of Mars, of exploration of the unknown can inspire your children to look into the sky, and see one of the best films of the year while they do so. The film will be playing at your local drive-in, so check it out, before it gets to chilly out (like Mars atmosphere).